By: Amanda Mitchell
January 7-13,2007

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of attending IASS 2007. Looking back now, I have to say that it was one of the best experiences of my life. There were so many great people there who knew the world of aquatics, you could only be inspired by what these people had chosen to do with their lives. My first day at the Point South Resort was great. You arrive and the first thing you see is a huge fountain inviting you into the resort. At that moment, I knew I was attending something big, something powerful, and something that really does change people’s lives.

They call him “RAC” but his name is Richard Carroll. He made some very profound opening statements that really stuck with me throughout my week at Safety School. RAC said, “Take advantage of the resources at your fingertips.” These “resources” were the people around me, people I worked with, people that had been in the aquatics industry for years. One of my faculty members, Larry, had been in the industry for thirty-five years! I sat in amazement at that fact. You could see the passion that he had for aquatics. Larry taught me that if you love something then you have to embrace what you do and support the people around you.

RAC also commented on the fact that there was approximately “3,000 years of experience” in attendance at Safety School. I was astounded. This was not just a paycheck or a run-of-the-mill job for the people here, it was a passion. Seeing all the positive energy flowing from the attendees at Safety School inspired me to want to stay in the industry for as long as possible.

There were many other things that surprised me about Safety School. First, people came from many different backgrounds. In my “Parrothead” group alone, we had people from the aquatics industry as well as those involved in insurance and also non-lifeguards. Second, it was interesting to see how young some people were in my group. Some people who were in their first years out of college were already directors of their facilities. This really reaffirmed that I could get a job in this industry straight out of college in a field that I enjoy.

Day Two was another wonderful experience, filled mostly with water skills, CPR, and class. One presentation that I found especially interesting was by Praesidium, Inc. It was a class all about possible sex offenders you may encounter at a water facility, which attracts so many children. We talked about the things you should look for in your guests and prospective employees. Since my facility is a flat water pool that has a very regular clientele, I was thrilled when, towards the end of the presentation, the speaker asked what preventative measures we currently take at our facilities. People began to shout out things that I never would have thought about. For instance, at some facilities there are only certain times when you can take pictures if you have rented the facility for a party; at other locations, there are no cameras allowed AT ALL. Those rules very much surprised me because I think back to all the pictures I have of my brothers and I enjoying the pool when we were younger. The discussion really opened my eyes to things that you may take for granted.

Our evening presentation was one that I will always remember. Jeff Ellis was the keynote speaker for the evening and they debued a new Ellis promotional video. It was the inspiring story of Chris Main who survived a heart attack because of the care that he received at the Ellis facility he had been swimming at with his family. He was saved by the training the guards had as well as the Automated External Deliberator (AED) the facility kept on hand. During the video, I could clearly tell that many of the attendees were getting very emotional; there wasn’t a dry eye at my table. After the video Jeff Ellis introduced none other than Chris Main and his wife. WOW! That moment could not have been any more emotional. To see what your training can do and how what we do can really alter a family’s life was powerful. I think we sometimes forget how important the things that we do everyday are, but the Main family will never forget how lucky they were to have been at an Ellis facility. His heart attack could have happened anywhere but because it happened at a pool with great training, up-to-date equipment, and Ellis accountability, he lived to watch his family grow.

Day Three was another busy day for the Parrotheads. There was a lot of in-the-water skills training. This provided some good in-service ideas. In one exercise, you have two circles and the guards swim in opposite direction, around and around. The leader of the in-service yells “Stop!” and whoever is on the outside of the circle is the rescuer and the person on the inside is the guest. This could work with many of the rescues that you learn as a guard, but the group I saw doing it used it for submerged rescues. It seemed like a lot of fun and was something different and energizing that you could do with your seasoned guards because it moves pretty fast.

The evening presentation was a bit hard for me. The information was directed toward directors and people who run the facilities (which was about 99% of the attendees at Safety School). All I could do was hope that my supervisor next to me was writing down all the cool incentive ideas so that I could benefit from them when we got home! There were some very basic ideas like a staff dinner, and then there were HUGE incentives, like a car! (I really liked that one). The one thing that they were really pushing throughout the discussion was “Think Big!” If you have the abilities to do something and you think it is too big, tell yourself that you can do it anyways because you are doing it for the people that work hard for you everyday. Other ideas included picking rotations for a day, be labeled as a “super guard”, employee of the month, movie tickets, SWAG, recertification reimbursement, and staff socials.

The other discussion that night was geared towards in-services activities, not all of which had to be life guarding related. There was talk about ideas for in-services that could be geared towards customer service, such as understanding disabilities. One activity here would be to have some guards wear blindfolds to simulate what it may be like for a guest at your facility who is blind. It really hits home how fortunate most of us are and that we need to remember that we really should keep up on our customer service etiquette and remember that not everybody that comes to our facility is as fortunate.

Wednesday started with my favorite Ellis topic: VATs. They actually scare me to death and when we do them at my facility I sit in the guard chair practically hyperventilating. As a lifeguard you sometimes get frustrated with VATs, but as we talked about them, I remembered why we do them. Zero drownings in five years! VATs are a part of that; they really do help guards simulate a real life event. I also enjoyed learning more about audits. Audits are meant to “catch something before it becomes dangerous” and that is another thing that makes Ellis so exceptional. They re-enforce their training and really hold the people that become Ellis licensed lifeguards accountable.

The evening speaker was Dr. Grant Goold. He was fun and entertaining. He spoke about the importance of learning environments. We all learn differently, but he stressed the importance of humor and the power of story telling. Those two things are what can really add to a positive learning environment. He called it the “magical link,” which is the effort that we take to build a positive learning environment can be linked to the zero drownings we have had in the last five years. I believe that whole heartedly. If we are positive in our training, then our guards will want to take with them what we teach them, but at the same time value that training and understand exactly how important it is. That is why the in-service discussion was so interesting. Even doing an activity that is non-guarding related can be a positive teaching tool. Dr. Goold put it best when he said, “A classroom in which laughter is welcome helps learning to live.”

Day 5, Thursday. The morning session had to be one of the highlights of my week. Pam Gordon was very entertaining and engaging. I learned so much about myself listening to her talk. The activity where you identify what type of learner you are (I am a type 3) was perfect. She discussed how you need to structure your class to engage everyone, which was something I had given little thought. I never realized exactly how much prep work is involved with teaching. Being a type three learner I would never think of accommodating many different learning types. Type three learners like to move fast, be given the information, and move on. It was not until later that evening when I was going over my class syllabus that we were asked to prepare, I realized exactly how just presenting the information would not be beneficial. I was thinking about all the activities that we did as a new lifeguard class. Just doing a relay and beating the skill into your brain was something that I forgot about because I have been a lifeguard for so long. Her talk really opened my eyes to what you have to think about while teaching. When learning you really just absorb, but when teaching you have to plan, and that is what we may forget sometimes.

That afternoon we started our teachbacks. I really value my skills but I think you take it to the next level when you can perform a skill and then teach that skill to others. That may be a true definition of knowing your skills. My teachbacks consisted of professionalism and accountability, whistle codes, and non spinal extraction. The great thing about teachbacks was that you were “teaching” to people that already knew the skill. Thus, you do an activity during your teachback, and then during the constructive criticisms your fellow attendees give you 100 more activities to do. My activity consisted of a fast paced quiz-like game and recommendations from the class included activities ranging from Simon Says to basic repetition.

Friday consisted of more teachbacks and it was nice to watch my fellow classmates present. During Eric’s teachback, he started using little double entendres to re-enforce the importance of wearing gloves, like “If it’s not yours don’t touch it.” I have heard that one before, but it made us laugh and the fact that we were laughing meant that it was going to stick with us.

Friday night was quite enjoyable. Everybody was invited to Gillian’s, a local bar and arcade. While I am not 21, Gillian’s was still a blast. It was just one more thing that we experienced during the week that made my group really close. The Parrotheads had all been hanging out together since Tuesday and Gillian’s just re-enforced the fact that we had worked so well together as a group.

Saturday was the last day. At breakfast, we got to see all the videos and skits the different groups had put together, which really gave you insight into the fun that the other groups had throughout the week. While fun, the brunch was also kind of sad. Some of the Parrotheads had already left for the airport and were headed home.

Even though it was a whirlwind, the week was so great for me that I was very sad to see it end. You meet these people who share a passion for the same things you do and you are instantly friends for life. I know that if I am fortunate enough to attend future safety schools, I will have the joy of seeing my fellow Parrotheads, and we’ll be able to pick up right where the brunch ended. That was the main lesson that I took away from safety school and was one of the greatest things that I can say about IASS. The people that you meet are so passionate about what they do and about the aquatics industry, you can’t help but be awed. I love aquatics and I hope it is what I can do for the rest of my life and the people at safety school inspired me to strive to achieve that goal. I keep using the word passion but really there is no other word to describe it. When I first met my instructors, especially Larry Montoya, Franceen Gonzales, and Steve Miller, I was in a daze by how many years they had dedicated not only to aquatics but the teaching of aquatics. You feel like you are in the right place when you see people like that. They enjoy what they do and they enjoy sharing that with others. It is great to see the pride that they, and the other instructors, take in their work. We only saw them for a week, but in that week they bestowed upon us their passion and really taught us how to be better at what we do. They know we know the skills, but their task was to see how they can enhance that.

Overall, IASS was one of the best experiences I have had the opportunity to have. You really leave there with a feeling of pride and a sense of purpose. I am only a lifeguard, but to have the opportunity to attend Safety School really made what I had been doing for the past five years matter. I remember Dr. Goold’s simple statement: “I am amazed by you.” That statement, simple as it may be, holds a lot of meaning. What we do is really important and the fact that Ellis holds us accountable for the license they issue us allows us to be amazing. This program is elite, but nevertheless, when we have the opportunity to amaze people, we still do.

I would recommend IASS to anyone. I know that it is a program usually attended by directors and many people in supervisory positions, but if you have the opportunity to send a guard or two, you should It is another way you could build a stronger staff. I was witness to something most guards do not get to see and I am now able to go back to my facility and share those experiences with my fellow employees. I find myself being proud of what I accomplished at Safety School and I want to share that with whoever will listen.

Since IASS I have reflected on what it actually means to be an Ellis licensed lifeguard. Looking out the window of my dorm room at the University of Massachusetts, I realized how much information we know as lifeguards. In an emergency, we have the ability to sustain life and possibly help a guest of our facility to see tomorrow. That was one of the many things that my eyes were opened to at IASS 2007 and I am sure that there will be many more instances over the coming year when I will think back at what a powerful experience it was.

I would like to thank Ellis and Associates, as well as Melissa Eades who was instrumental in my ability to attend safety school, and my aquatics director Liz Caywood who has been very supportive in my love of aquatics and took the time to assist me in planning for this trip. Once again, it was a great experience that I will take with me and I hope to be able to return to Safety School for as many years as possible.