How to Keep Your Eye on a Victim During a Lifeguard Rescue

If you’re reading this, then it is likely that you are either a lifeguard, a lifeguard in training, or someone coveting the position of this very fulfilling and rewarding occupation. One of the most challenging yet necessary parts of the job is to be able to know where a person in distress is at all times while you rescue them. The following are a set of useful steps that will allow you to always watch your victim as you swim.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Use the ocean to your advantage. Once you spot your victim in the water, negotiate the current and which way he or she is drifting while in need of assistance in the water. Remember, you always run faster than you swim, so running north down your beach and jumping into a south current will get you to your victim quicker than swimming against it.

2. Just before entering the water with your piece of rescue equipment (can or tube), take note of what stands out about the victim. Hair color? Bathing suit color? Swim cap or goggles? This information will be especially helpful to you if there are people in the vicinity of the person you are about to rescue.

3. This step will assure you that you will almost never lose sight of the victim: When you hit the water and begin your standard cross-stroke (freestyle) swim, concentrate on using one of your arms to heave your upper body about a foot out of the water. Picture salmon swimming upstream, and this is essentially what you’ll be doing. As you’re using that arm to pull your body out of the water, turn your head to look straight on to the victim and keep them in your sights.

4. When your body comes back down into the water, continue your cross-stroke as your normally would with your other arm, and then repeat. What you’re doing is keeping a fast swimming rhythm in the water by gaining an extra line of sight from pulling your body out of the water.

5. Continue to use the ocean to your advantage. If there are swells coming through, time your cross-stroke so that you pull your body out of the water at the height of the swell. This will increase your range of vision even further so that you keep a close, steady eye on the victim.

Tips & Warnings

• While performing a rescue can be the most rewarding part of the job, it can also be the most dangerous. Always make sure you have a back-up plan and that your partner is on the beach watching you make the rescue. Especially dangerous rescues almost always turn into a team effort, so don't hesitate to use back-up if you need to.