Lifeguard Training Course Offered to Reduce Erie County Lifeguard Shortage

Get certified at no cost and receive a new employee sign-on bonus as an employee of the YMCA of Greater Erie.

Erie, PA – The swimming hole may be dry again this summer.

A lifeguard shortage that kept about a third of America’s 309,000 public swimming pools dry, or open sporadically in 2022, could be “as bad as last year, or worse or this year,” according to the American Lifeguard Association’s B.J. Fisher.

To help reduce a lifeguard shortage in Erie County, the YMCA of Greater Erie will offer a YMCA Lifeguard Certification Course at the Y’s Glenwood location, 3727 Cherry Street, May 16-21, 2023. This course is open to the public and free for those who successfully complete the course and commit to employment at the Y. The Y operates eight pools during the summer months and needs a minimum of 100 lifeguards to adhere to the Y’s strict aquatic safety guidelines.

The course is open to those who are at least 16 years old by the end of the course. Participants must successfully complete a pre-requisite swim, offered by appointment from April 27-May 2.

The pre-requisite swim consists of three phases:

Phase 1:  Tread water for 2 minutes, swim 100 yards front crawl
Phase 2:  Swim 50 yards of the following strokes: front crawl with head up, sidestroke, breaststroke, breaststroke with head up, inverted breaststroke kick with hands on the chest, perform a feet first surface dive and swim underwater 5 yards
Phase 3:  Sprint 20 yards, perform an arm-over-arm surface dive to obtain an object from the bottom of the pool, tread water holding the object for 1 minute (legs only), return object to the bottom, climb out of the pool and immediately begin 100 compressions on a manikin, stand and listen to directions from the instructor

Upon successful completion of the pre-requisite swim, participants will then be enrolled in the YMCA V6 Lifeguard Certification course. Participants must attend all classes May 16-21. The course includes certification in CPR/AED/Oxygen and First Aid.

The Y also offers an Aquatics Leadership Pathway program. This program encourages leadership development in aquatic safety with the goal to prepare and motivate participants to eventually become lifeguards through a separate certification course.  Students in this program will focus on the following milestones:

-Enhancing safety skills needed in an aquatic environment, such as scanning, entering and exiting a pool, and performing a reaching and throwing assist

-Developing knowledge in various aquatic safety topics

-Increasing endurance to meet the prerequisite physical competency

requirement of a lifeguard certification course

Participants should have the endurance to swim a minimum of 150 yards of any stroke or combination of strokes.

Registration Information

Lifeguard Course Registration – https://www.ymcaerie.org/programs/270/ymca-lifeguard-v6-certification-course/#division_957

Aquatics Pathway Registration- https://www.ymcaerie.org/programs/432/aquatic-leadership-pathways/?locations=-1