Red Cross Certs.

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spacy chick
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Red Cross Certs.

Post by spacy chick »

Next summer I'll be old enough to be a Counselor I but at that point my Red Cross Cert. in lifeguarding and everything that goes with it (AED, CPR, First-Aid) will expire. I'm also thinking about becomming a water safety instructor (WSI). Would these certs. help me at all to be hired? I need to know so i can sign up for a class b/f i leave for college...they don't offer the classes often...especially WSI...and eventually I want to be a real counselor...II and maybe III
~Siobhan
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Post by Space Nerd »

I've been wondering the same thing in referance to being a counselor. I dont know if i'm going to work as a lifeguard this summer and i cant decide if its worth it to keep my certs up for any other jobs... The city won't pay for our certs anymore even if we work for them. The whole process is way to expensive.
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Post by Who »

Yes, especially if you want to work at AC where they teach first aid, cpr, etc to the kids. They also have lifegaurd training in the summer.
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Post by spacy chick »

Thanks Who...I think i'll get re-certified in LG and be a WSI...

Space Nerd...lucky duck! at least the city pool paid for your certs at one time! I'm a city guard too and they won't pay for ours at all, nor our uniforms...becomming LG certified and WSI is going to cost me (
+/-) $300 for everything...I just hope it's worth it in the long run....
~Siobhan
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Space Academy 2001 - IO- wk 36
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Adv. Space Academy 2003 - Von Braun- 36
Adv. Space Academy 2004 - Von Braun- 37
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Post by SpaceCanada »

I like the arrangement we have at our pool - the Lifesaving Society automatically renews your instructor status if you teach so many classes in a year. The lifeguard awards are similar also in that they recertify themselves if you do so many workshops per year. I think the only one that we have to take an actual recertification course for is Standard First Aid Instructor - only so we are up to date with current procedures, etc. It's optional, as you can always just read the 'update' list, but it is fun to the the SFA course every one in a while - especially with my comedic co-workers!
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Post by Space Nerd »

spacy chick wrote:Thanks Who...I think i'll get re-certified in LG and be a WSI...

Space Nerd...lucky duck! at least the city pool paid for your certs at one time! I'm a city guard too and they won't pay for ours at all, nor our uniforms...becomming LG certified and WSI is going to cost me (
+/-) $300 for everything...I just hope it's worth it in the long run....
Originally they payed for a portion of our LG and CPR/First Aid certs (we were not AED trained at that point) and then we payed the rest with the understanding that if we were in good standing with the law and such we would be hired. Then the next year they decided to stop paying for any of our CPR challenge so we had to pay all of that. Then last year instead of Red Cross we got certified by the American Heart Association in both CPR and AED use and i think we got a discount on that but we still had to pay for it. My first year the city payed for one of our swimsuits and then if we wanted more we had to purchase them. Now they don't pay for any swimsuits. Why is it that putting a big white cross and the word guard on a swimsuit suddenly ups the price by 10 or 20 dollars? We also have to pay for our t-shirts if we want them. Sometimes i think i pay more money than i earn. :lol: I guess thats what you get for working at a small city pool though. Most days its worth it... some it really, really isnt. :lol:
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Post by Bubbles7 »

I know at my school they offer it as a PE class... I am signed up right now... It's all done by the Red Cross. I know a fair amount of universities offer it... or maybe it's a Florida thing, but may be something to look into. :D
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Post by spacy chick »

I know the suits are crazy expensive! The ones we have to get are around $80 and that's for either a two piece or a one piece...they're both the same price :-/ I work at pretty good size pool and my first year working they paid for our t-shirts and (i guess there usually called fanny packs) guard pack where we keep our face mask (that we pay for) and whistle...they dropped paying for t-shirts so now we just get whistles and the newbies get packs...my school offers cpr and even aed if you ask the nurses to certify you in it but it isn't "CPR for the Professional Rescuer" which is what the city wants...apparently it's diffrent....
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Post by Space Nerd »

As far as i know the only difference between standard CPR and CPR for the professional rescuer is that if you're professional rescuer certified and you neglect to help somebody in need you can be sued. Well... that and the price. :lol: I think the emphasis on what equipment and what to do before EMTs get there is slightly different too. We had to pay for our masks, the nice ones with the one way valves, only to find out that when we get out of training we get the pocket masks attached to our lanyards. It seems that if they want you to do a job correctly then they should give you the right tools to do it with... Oh well. Its money, right?
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Post by spacy chick »

Ha yeah...the nurse told me that cpr for the rescuer has two person cpr and regular cpr classes don't offer certification in that...also the rescuer class goes more deeply into cpr for infants and children...
~Siobhan
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Space Academy 2001 - IO- wk 36
Space Academy 2002 - Galileo- wk 38
Adv. Space Academy 2003 - Von Braun- 36
Adv. Space Academy 2004 - Von Braun- 37
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Post by SpaceCanada »

Wow, things sound so complicated down there. Up here they have standardised the CPR courses, so no matter who you take them with, you will learn the same stuff. CPR Level C is most common because it includes adult, child, infant, and two-rescuer CPR. AED is separate, but we get it when we do our Aquatic Emergency Care (AEC). We have some clause in our Lifesaving Society that says you have to help anyone you see in trouble unless it puts you at risk. We also have a provincial or federal (can't remember which one) Good Samaritan Act that protects first aiders from being sued for whatever reason.

Our pool pays for our uniforms - tank tops we wear over our swimsuits while on deck. We pay for our own swimsuits though. Polyester is the way to go - they do not fade or stretch, and last at least two years with daily use. We get a discount at the town's swimsuit shop, but they still ring in at $50 for a plain polyester suit - we don't need words on them because we have the tank tops. Actually, I have never seen swimsuits with words on them before - most places around here wear shirts with 'lifeguard' or 'instructor' on them.

Well... off I go to another inservice (training sesion) at the pool. Four hours including supper - yay! Our pool always puts on really fun training sessions. That, or I just remember being fed, which is good enough for me.

Oh... right... back on topic... Yes, having CPR, AEC, NLS, and all that jazz will help you out if you want a job at SC or AC. ;)
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Post by Space Nerd »

Red Cross and American Heart Association trainings are virtually the same. The designation on your certification is what is different and only by a couple small procedures (two person bag valve mask). I only actually know of one designation which would be professional rescuer but there are probably more. Most of the EMT services around here are going with the AHA certification these days because its got everything that Red Cross has standard. For instance you can take CPR for the Professional Rescuer through Red Cross but if you want AED training or Oxygen training you have to take those as a seperate class. AHA offers you AED as a standard training which makes sense because its incredibly easy and doesn't really even require training. In my opinion AED training through the Red Cross is just their way of making an extra buck. Its automated for petes sake! I think the only thing that we didnt learn when we recertified through AHA is two person with bag valve and its exactly the same as two person CPR but with a bag valve mask so its really quite redundant. Not that i discount the Red Cross in fact its great just expensive.

We have the good samaritan act as well but if you're professional rescuer certified and you screw up a procedure you can be held accountable for your actions. It makes sense. It would be the same thing as if an Emergency Medical Technician messed up. He would be held accountable because he is supposed to know what hes doing. However, if joe schmoe were to pull a guy out of a burning vehicle and cause a neck injury he would be covered by the Good Samaritan Act. All of this within reason though, its not like somebody is going to sue you for saving their life or breaking a rib, in most situations.
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