Want to be a lifeguard? Jobs are open and training’s available

Old Orchard Beach chief lifeguard Keith Willett keeps an eye on swimmers in this 2010 file photo. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Within the past week, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands announced that its still looking to fill five full-time lifeguard positions at Popham Beach and Reid state parks, two of the most popular beaches in Maine and nearby one another (by boat, anyway) in Phippsburg and Georgetown, respectively.

The jobs are 40-hour-per-week positions and pay $10.43 an hour. It’s not going to get you rich, but it’s an active summer job at the beach. I can think of many summers when I would have pounced on that opportunity if I’d been aware of it.

What’s that, you say? You don’t know how to be a lifeguard? You wouldn’t know what to do if you saw someone injured in the water, or needing resuscitation?

Well, this may be too late for the current wave of hirings, but before public schools are out for the summer, St. Joseph’s College is hosting two lifeguard courses, one for review for previously certified lifeguards and one to train and certify lifeguard hopefuls.

From the school:

Saint Joseph’s College will offer a Lifeguard Training Review course on Friday, June 15, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, June 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Harold Alfond Recreation Center on the Standish campus (both classes must be attended). Participants must have successfully completed an American Red Cross Lifeguard Training course within the last four years and must have successfully completed a CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer course within the past two years. Proofof prior training is required at the start of the class. Participants must also be able to do: 300-yard swim with 100 yards of front crawl, 100 yards of breast stroke, and 100 yards of either front crawl or breast stroke; 20-yard back-and-forth swim with surface dive to retrieve a 10-pound object from a depth of 7-10 feet, under 1 minute and 40 seconds.

The cost for the review course is $100 and a $27 Red Cross certification fee. Please contact 893-6615 or e-mail rdaigle@sjcme.edu for more information or to register. If a class is needed on a different day, Saint Joseph’s can create a class at another time if there are four interested people.

And:

Saint Joseph’s College will offer a 4-day lifeguard training course from June 18-21 that is designed to teach the skills needed to prevent injuries, prepare for and respond appropriately to drowning, injury, breathing and cardiac emergencies. This 28-hour training will instruct participants according to the newly released lifeguard program, CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer and First Aid. Qualifying participants will receive an American Red Cross Lifeguard Training, First Aid and CPR certification.

The 4-day course runs Monday-Thursday, June 18-21, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and participants must attend all four classes. All classes are held at the Harold Alfond Center on the Standish campus. To qualify for the course, participants must be: at least 15 years old by the end of class; able to swim 300 yards with 100 yards of front crawl, 100 yards of breast stroke and 100 yards of either front crawl or breast stroke; able to do a 20-yards back-and-forth swim with surface dive to retrieve a 10-pound object from a depth of 7-10 feet, under 1 minute 40 seconds; be able to tread water for 2 minutes using only the legs.

The cost of the course is $300 + $35 Red Cross fee. Please contact 893-6615 or e-mail rdaigle@sjcme.edu for more information or to register.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.