Spencer Park Lifeguard

The Spencer Park lifeguard staff is the only United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) certified lifeguard staff in the state of Michigan. For the past 23 years, the staff has succeeded in their goal: no drownings, no spinal cord injuries, no serious employee injuries.

Qualifications

In addition to being USLA certified lifeguards, all staff members possess the following certifications after a vigorous yearly certification weekend:
*American Red Cross Lifeguard
*American Red Cross CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer
*American Red Cross Oxygen Administration for the Professional Rescuer
*American Red Cross Standard First Aid
*American Red Cross Infant/Child CPR

Training

In order to maintain the skills required to respond to any emergency, lifeguards at Spencer park are required to attend at least one three hour training session during every two week pay period.

Employees are also expected to train personally during their time off the lifeguard stand. They are expected to run a distance of at least one lap of the lake (1.1 miles), rescue board a distance of at least 700 yards, and swim a distance of at least 700 yards daily. Other additional training activities that are encouraged are deep diving to the bottom of the lake, practicing Cardiopulmonary Recusitation (CPR) on a computerized mannequin, and kayaking around the lake.

Training sessions

The cornerstones of the training regime are the required training sessions. These sessions almost always occur in the early morning hours before the beach operations start.

The initial activity of the training sessions is usually an hour of physical activity, consisting of running, swimming, and the much disputed Spencer Park Beach "Circuit". During this period of staff occupation, the beachfront coordinator places several mannequins on the lake bottom both inside and outside of the swimming area.

The second phase of the training sessions usually focuses on a variety of drills that practice the fundamental procedures executed by the lifeguards, including the Spencer Park Missing Child Procedure, the Spencer Park Out of Swim Area Procedure, the out of swim area submersion procedure, and other ad hoc scenarios that require the lifeguards to adapt to the situation.

Missing Child Procedure

The Missing Child Procedure was developed to rapidly rule out the water as a potential location of the child. While the lifeguard staff begins searching the swimming area, the Spencer Park Attendant staff searches the rest of the park, including the trails, bathrooms, and playground.