Scottsdale aquatics center offering lifeguard training

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The McDowell Mountain Ranch Aquatic Center is getting ready for pool season, as lifeguards undergo training sessions at the ranch this week.

Lifeguards play an important role in ensuring a safe environment for swimmers, and the center is preparing to hire for the summer season.

Those attending the training program are learning important life-saving skills, like safety and rescue techniques in water.

"How to access certain situations when they come into them, how to learn those life-saving skills in the water, but really, the confidence it takes to be a lifeguard, so learning to manage the judgment of should I or should I not go after this person. Kinda getting over the doubting yourself," said McDowell Mountain Ranch Aquatic and Fitness Center Pool Manager Kristen Clark.

In addition, they have to learn to watch the water at all times.

"One of the first things I tell the kids in the class is that your job is to be watching the water systematically, searching the water for something that doesn’t look right," said Clark. "I tell them too it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. You always have to be ready."

Clark says safety protocols are in place during lifeguard training in the classroom, and students are using the same partner for water skills. People as young as 15 are encouraged to take classes.

"It’s important to teach them those life skills in entering the workforce for the first time, so safety is our number one priority, but also teaching, especially younger kids what it is to have a job," Clark said.