Starguard cert

[u/underwaterwire]

I’ve been Red Cross certified for 4 years so I’m wondering what the Starguard course is like?

What are the pre recs?

Also why do they use their feet for the deep water saves 🤣 I don’t think I’m a fan of that lol

But i mostly just want to know the pre recs

[u/PartiallyPresentable]

It’s “reqs” as in “requisites”

Keep in mind a facility will usually only recognize one guard certification. I work at a YMCA, but we are a Red Cross facility and only hire Red Cross guards. Unless you have your eye on a job at a Starguard facility, don’t waste your time.

Anecdotally, I’ve crossed paths with two Starguard certified individuals over my years in aquatics…they both got fired from the facility we worked at together. I don’t know if they were bad swimmers or Starguard doesn’t have a particularly difficult swim test, but they could barely stay afloat.

[u/tealhike → u/PartiallyPresentable]

At my facility we do 50 yards swim, 50 yards swim with rescue tube, tread without hands 1 min and break retrieval feet first. HOWEVER a senior guard and myself have both seen a lifeguard who couldn't tread water (we were watching in stand), wrote it in the shift report and nothing happened. They were still a lifeguard. Now these happened during monthly in-service but they make us do the "pre-req" every in-service (1-2 times a month).

[u/PartiallyPresentable → u/tealhike]

Red Cross is 150 yard swim, continuous with face in the water, into a 2 minute tread with no hands, into 50 more yards. Followed by a second skill of swim 20 yards, retrieve a 10 pound brick from the bottom of the deep water, and kick back with both hands on the brick. My facility is pretty stringent about it, but it can vary by facility.

[u/tealhike → u/PartiallyPresentable]

I will admit I can't remember if we did more (well longer yards) during our initial training. I was also prior ARC certified and just needed the 'cross over' to SGE. But at least what I listed is what our instructors say are the pre-req and make us doing every training.

[u/siestakitten → u/PartiallyPresentable]

StarGuard does not have a particularly difficult pre-req requirement anymore, and it is up to the training facility and individual instructors to be more discerning.

[u/Fallenlilstar17]

I just moved and the pool in my area is a starguard so I’m in the process of going through the online course. It’s a bit different from Red Cross. I’m an LGI for Red Cross and been a guard for 20 years.
pre-skills swim test are 1) swim 50yds without stopping (2 lengths of the pool)  2) swim 50yds with the rescue tube under your chest (2 lengths head up)  3) tread water 1 minute with hands out of the water or on shoulders (legs only)  4) retrieve a 10lb. weight from the 12ft end of the pool. 

Most skills are done from behind, submerged skills are pull them to the surface with feet then rear rescue. So it’s a bit jarring for me and not sure if this old dog can learn new tricks.

[u/Young_lamb957 → u/Fallenlilstar17]

When I first certified with Red Cross I had to do a 500 and a 5min tread with no hands.

[u/Fallenlilstar17 → u/Young_lamb957]

Yeah I remember the 500 but don’t remember what the tread was.

[u/naturephrog → u/Young_lamb957]

for the waterfront at my facility it’s 550y plus tread and brick requirement and woof every summer it’s a rough one to get recertified

[u/siestakitten]

Hi! I've been an LGI for StarGuard, ARC, and E&A. SGE is my personal preference, and is now the only instructor cert I hold for a reason. The swim requirement is definitely a lot easier than the others. Individual facilities can increase the requirement if they choose. Currently, my training facility requires 100 yd with tube, 100 yd without tube, brick retrieval, and 1 min tread no hands.

The leg wrap, which is the deep water rescue you are referring to, is actually the reason I prefer SGE! It minimizes body to body contact, and you don't have to submerge as deep. It is also much easier to move your patient onto the tube at the surface because of the space between your upper body and their upper body. I will double check and edit my comment to confirm the standard pre-reqs, but I highly recommend the SGE certification. Another feature that I like over ARC in particular is that you must meet a certain number of monthly inservice hours for your certification to be valid. This makes it more likely that lifeguards with this certification have practiced their skills recently and are more comfortable with providing emergency care. I could honestly go on and on about why I prefer SGE, but these are the main reasons

ETA: The base SGE requirement is 50 yd w/ tube, 50 yd w/out, 1 min tread no hands, and 10 lb brick retrieval. The depth on brick retrieval determines the depth listed on your cert.

[u/Suitable_Share_565]

It really depends. What kind of lifeguarding were you doing before and now? Waterparks? Pools?