Sea Bright's Junior Lifeguard Program Addresses Nationwide Lifeguard Shortage

Addressing the Lifeguard Shortage

• 💡 Sea Bright, New Jersey has implemented a successful junior lifeguard program to combat the nationwide shortage of lifeguards.
• 🎯 The program aims to build a strong pipeline of candidates by teaching essential skills from a young age.

Junior Lifeguard Program Curriculum

• 🏊 Boys and girls participate in comprehensive training, including CPR, water rescues, and understanding ocean safety like rip currents.
• 🤝 Participants learn teamwork through drills, such as a CPR relay involving swimming and performing compressions.
• 👶 The program uniquely allows children to start as young as seven years old and continue through to become certified lifeguards at 16.

Program Structure and Benefits

• 🌊 For participants aged 13, there's an opportunity to join the Nippers, uncertified volunteer lifeguards who assist by observing from lifeguard stands.
• 📈 The program's long-term exposure to beach safety and operations ensures that rookies entering the Beach Patrol at 16 possess a significant knowledge base.
• ⚠️ The program has had a direct impact, with participants making rescues in other locations due to skills learned, and it ensures Sea Bright has 50 lifeguards on duty this summer.