For anyone 15 years and older.

Plantation Aquatic Complex is offering American Red Cross Lifeguarding Courses for individuals interested in lifeguarding at pools. This course is designed to teach individuals ages 15 and older the skills and knowledge needed to prevent, recognize, and respond to aquatic emergencies. Participants will learn water rescues, professionalism and responsibilities as a lifeguard, how to provide care for breathing and cardiac emergencies, and first aid. All participants must take and pass the prerequisites to be eligible to be a part of the course. Certification is valid for 2 years.

Prerequisites

In order for an individual to participate in these courses they must be able to pass a prerequisite skills evaluation. The skills evaluation will be administered the first day of the course and includes the following:

• Swim 300 yards continuously demonstrating breath control and rhythmic breathing. You may swim using the front crawl, breaststroke or a combination of both. You may use swim goggles.
• Tread water for 2 minutes using only the legs. Hands should be placed under your armpits.
• Complete the timed event within 1 minute, 40 seconds (Swim goggles are not allowed on this skill)
• Starting in the water, swim 20 yards with your face in or out of the water.
• Surface dive, feet-first or head-first, to a depth of 7 to 10 feet to retrieve a 10 pound object.
• Return to the surface and kick 20 yards on your back to return to the starting point. Keep both hands on the object with your face at or near the surface of the water so you are able to breath. You should not swim the distance under water. Your time stops once you have put the object on the pool deck and you exited the pool without using a ladder or steps.

There will be no refund for individuals who fail the prerequisite skills evaluation.

This course offers those who have a current American Red Cross Lifeguarding certification the opportunity to review the course content and renew their certification within a shorter time span compared to the full lifeguard course. Skills include but not limited to water rescues, CPR, AED, and first aid. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will receive their new certification in lifeguarding for an additional 2 years from the date of completion.

This is a recertification course for those who have a current American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor/Instructor Trainer certification. The purpose of this course is to allow participants to review the course content and practice skills in a formal class setting. To be eligible for recertification, candidates must demonstrate and be evaluated for proficiency in all skills and scenarios throughout the course, participate in all course activities, and successfully complete and get a passing score on the final written exam. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will receive their new certification for lifeguard instructor and (if they have this) lifeguard instructor trainer for an additional 2 years from the date of completion.

For anyone 16 years and older.

The purpose of the American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor course is to train instructor candidates to teach courses and presentations in the American Red Cross Swimming and Water Safety program by developing their understanding of how to use the course materials, how to conduct training sessions and how to evaluate participants’ progress. Water Safety Instructor candidates MUST be at least 16 years old to participate in this course.

The Plantation Aquatic Complex hosts a number of certification classes through the American Red Cross. Please see below for a list of course offerings. Call the Plantation Aquatics Office for a training schedule at 954-452-2525.