A lifeguard in the most general sense of the word is an emergency service worker, who is a qualified strong swimmer, trained and certified in first aid and useful rescue techniques, who is responsible for overseeing the safety of users of a recreational water feature, such as a swimming pool, a water park, or a private or public beach.
Due to nature of their mission and responsibility, and that their command presence needs to be visible, lifeguards are often dressed in a high visibility uniform, usually including red boardshorts (or, for female lifeguards, a red one-piece bathing suit), and carry distinctive equipment, such as a brightly colored rescuer's buoy, which depending upon the preference of the agency's practices may be made of a rigid or soft plastic material.
In the cases of public pools, water parks, and beach clubs, the employer of a lifeguard force is the private sector entity operating that facility, but in the case of the public beach it would usually be a public sector agency called a lifeguard service, beach patrol, ocean safety department, or something similar. It is with these latter types of lifeguards that the balance of this article will deal.
On shore, a lifeguard can typically be seen watching his water from an elevated chair or tower, or patrolling the water's edge on foot or or with a four-wheel-drive car. Some of the better equipped lifeguard services operate rigid hulled patrol boats that can provide added support in the event of a riptide situation or other emergency. Additionally, some also have rowboats, outboard-powered Zodiacs, and specially marked personal watercraft equipped with Marzol rescue platforms (a reinforced oversize bodyboard) available to respond from the beach.
An individual lifeguard tower will typically be staffed with one or two lifeguards responsible for a specific length of beach. In addition to rescuer's buoys, equipment typically placed at a lifeguard tower includes a private line or centrex telephone used to establish communication with a dispatcher, and a well stocked first aid kit. Additional equipment may include a large rescue surfboard, a bag rescuscitator and simple scuba diving equipment. A lifeguard vehicle or patrol boat will be equipped with two way radios and may also carry cardiac care medical equipment, an oxygen tank, and more advanced scuba gear.
In some communities, the lifeguard service also carries out mountain rescues, or may function as the primary EMS provider.
A key part of the lifeguard mission being prevention, one of the more useful measures of the effectiveness of a lifeguard force is not the number or rapidity of rescues, but the absence or reduction of drownings, accidents, and other emergencies.
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