Challenges and Triumphs of the American Red Cross r.24 Lifeguard Instructor Recertification Curriculum

Join host, Dave Kotz in this episode of the LIFESAVING CHRONICLES as he sits down with special guest, Steven Murphy, to discuss the R24 lifeguarding program with a focus on lifeguard instructor recertification.

In this engaging conversation, Steve shares his extensive experience in aquatics, including his background as a lifeguard, supervisor, instructor, and his current role as a lifeguard instructor trainer and water safety instructor trainer. They delve into the challenges and changes in the R24 program, particularly in the lifeguard instructor recertification process.

Discover insights on the new Red Cross Lifeguarding r.24 program, the differences between the limited lifeguarding instructor training and the standard LGI, and the importance of quality assurance in lifeguard training.

Don't miss out on valuable discussions on the adult responsibilities and consequences of lifeguarding, as Steve emphasizes the critical importance of being prepared for any emergency situation.

Tune in to gain valuable knowledge and stay informed on the latest updates in the lifesaving education industry. Watch our video podcast of the LIFESAVING CHRONICLES on YouTube!

Contact David Kotz

• Email: info@nstc.net
• Phone: 908-502-0600

About The Lifesaving Chronicles:
Hey there, lifesaving educators! I'm David Kotz, your host and the founder of the National Safety Training Center. Join me as we embark on a bi-monthly journey, each session packed with approximately 30 minutes of rich content tailored for American Red Cross and American Heart Association educators like you—CPR/First Aid instructors, Lifeguard instructors, EMT instructors, and any current or aspiring lifesaving educating entrepreneurs who are passionate about saving lives. We'll dissect current events, explore teaching strategies, and review lifesaving techniques. But that's not all! We want you to be a part of the conversation. Got a topic or an incident you're itching to discuss? Send it our way, and let's tackle it together on the show. Gear up for an educational ride with The LIFESAVING CHRONICLES.

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Transcript

0:03

Thank you.

David Kotz: 0:05

Good afternoon, everyone. It's Dave Kotz from the National Safety Training Center here with the LifeSaving Chronicles. We have a special guest, Mr. Steven Murphy. We're going to talk about the r.24 lifeguarding program with a particular focus on lifeguard instructor recertification. Steve, tell us all about yourself.

Steve Murphy: 0:27

Thanks for having me on board and what is there to say? I've been in aquatics 14 years. I started off as a lifeguard in my late 30s and then just slowly worked my way through the path I've been on without any real goal in mind other than to have a summer job. I've been a head lifeguard, supervisor, instructor, lived in Starguard I've done some Ellis, four years of that and, but my main home is American Red Cross. So I'm currently a lifeguard instructor trainer and also a water safety instructor trainer. Currently the owner and operator of, MATES or Missouri Aquatics Training and Education Solutions. We've been around since 2021 and we basically travel around and train people very much like you do with your organization. Before all that, I did six years total in the Army and then the Army National Guard. I went to Operation Desert Storm. I don't recommend that. You can avoid going, but Yeah, it So definitely people are like, wow, couldn't you have chosen not to go? And it's the army doesn't work that way. They do not ask you where you want to go. So I did six years total. I have a bachelor's and master's in history. And so I teach as an adjunct instructor of history at a local community college, which is how it is I needed to get into aquatics anyway, because usually there's no summer classes to teach. And the one time I taught, The whole time I'm standing in the classroom just looking out the window going. And my students didn't want to be there either. And I thought, that's, the universe is talking to me. I've done a lot of different things. And, right now I consider myself to be part time everything. part time this, part time that.

David Kotz: 2:06

Let's talk a little bit about the new Red Cross lifeguarding r.24 program. Have you taught the basic level r.24 yet?

Steve Murphy: 2:14

No.

David Kotz: 2:15

Nor have I. We're seem to be holding off on that for a couple more months. I know some people have a cache of r.17 manuals and other equipment, and they're just very familiar with it. I think also the reason might be a lot of us have started teaching the r.24 lifeguard instructor recertification process and that process is challenging. Every time we have a new launch of a program, despite the fact that r.17 lifeguarding and r.24 are exceedingly similar from a product capability. We haven't changed a lot of the content, but administratively, we have made some significant changes. When you're doing the lifeguard instructor recertification, how is that going for you and the people that you're teaching?

Steve Murphy: 3:06

By guidance that we've received, we use the limited lifeguarding instructor trainer for recertification. And that, my understanding is that variant, It has all the updated information in it, where a standard LGI, LGIT r.24 is missing one module. It's missing the update. Now to be clear on- this is important to know. If you're going to teach the limited, or even the other one later, you have to go through the online update. You have to, as an LGI or an LGIT. The only one that's doing it would be LGIT. Now, on the other hand, if you're in LGIT and you don't want to do that, then what you do is you find somebody like me who's already done it, and then I resubmit, and then you can get around.

David Kotz: 3:50

What you're saying as an IT, you either have to take the course or you can co teach the course with another IT. That what I hear you saying?

Steve Murphy: 3:59

I believe that works. That's what we did that's what we did the first time. We did it a week after the rollout.

David Kotz: 4:08

So one of the things that I experienced when I taught this course yesterday, there is a difference between the limited edition, which I understand is available to lifeguard instructors or instructor trainers who are expired, but by no more than one year. And it gives them both the base level information, the instructor or instructor training level information. And then you can bolt on at the end, a base level skill session to also certify them as a lifeguard as well so they can go in the stands. And that actually makes their expiration dates match on everything.

Steve Murphy: 4:42

Now we have not been doing, we have not bolted on the additional, because we felt like Hey, we've got a lot on the plate already. It's relatively new. This is my first time doing a major update. Actually being here for it. Every other time an update has come out, I've been on some other certification planet. And so I've always missed it. And then showed up later and it's already happened. We have not been doing the basic lifeguard research bolt on. The one thing that we have noticed is that the outline says 6. 5 hours. I've found that to be wildly optimistic. It's taken us about eight to get through each, no matter the class size, no matter how many additional ITs I've had. Two out of three, I've had an additional IT out of Topeka, Kansas who have helped me. The one I did on Saturday, I did by myself. Doesn't matter. Always take a break.

David Kotz: 5:31

just takes more time.

Steve Murphy: 5:32

Even if you take a short break we did not take an hour for lunch. We- I even advised in the last two recerts, bring your lunch. Bring your lunch, change, eat, let me get the course presentation going so that we can get through that, and it still takes about 8 hours, and so I imagine if I bolted on the other, then that's a 10...

David Kotz: 5:53

it's a long day.

Steve Murphy: 5:54

Yeah I don't know anybody who sits through it, I just I just, but, who would?

David Kotz: 5:59

The biggest change that I've seen between r.17, the previous program, or current program, and r.24 at the instructor level, in this recertification process, now we expect the instructors and instructor trainers to teach. We didn't have that before.

Steve Murphy: 6:17

I love it. I love it. I think it's great.

David Kotz: 6:19

And I think that is, is a good step because, okay, last time for r.17 of the last several years, we'd watch them do their skills, but we'd never actually see them teach. So I think that's a big step in the right direction.

Steve Murphy: 6:32

First time I did an LGI recert in March of 2022, and it literally got hot potato into my lap. I did not have a lot of prep time, but I rolled into it and I did it. One of the other participants was like, do we have a practice teaching assignment? I scoured the outline. I thought, surely there must be one in here; there wasn't.

David Kotz: 6:51

Again, I, we agree on that. I think that's a definite good thing. When we used to do the lifeguard instructor review class, I think they called it review back then. The guidance we were given was two pages. That was it. Now the guidance is approaching a hundred pages? It's a lot. I know when I was teaching yesterday and my class was ultimately unsuccessful, I was concerned greatly that I was following the instructor trainer guide very specifically just because of the amount of information that was there and what we were expected to provide. So I was trying to model the behavior we were expecting from the students in the instructor recertification process. I want it to be the prime example and show them this is how it's done. Here's the manual. Let's open it. Let's follow along.

Steve Murphy: 7:42

For sure. It's a long process. It's not as short as 6. 5 hours, but you're definitely going to be spending. I'd say about 8 hours on average. Now maybe as one gains more experience, they can find a way to expedite it. I don't know how you're going to get it down to the 6. 5 hour metric.

David Kotz: 7:58

The other interesting thing about that program specifically is there's a separate test for the recertification process. That's different from your initial test as a lifeguard instructor. So As an IT, a new IT who's just starting this program, you have to understand that and be prepared for it. There's also a 20 some odd page handout that you have to give to every student. It's definitely a new, more complicated, not bad, it's more complicated in a good way, but there's definitely some more moving parts.

Steve Murphy: 8:31

Agreed. Absolutely. Sure is. What? Fun times. Have you taught the full LGI class yet?

David Kotz: 8:37

No, my first one's gonna be starting this week on Saturday, so I have five days to prepare for it right now.

Steve Murphy: 8:43

I taught two of them. I taught two back to back weekends. 16 hours is the guidance on that. I scheduled them Saturday, Sunday. The first time I did it, I ran over my Sunday time for the first time in ages. I have always gotten out on time. We were an hour and a half over on times. And the second time I taught it, I was a little bit more efficient, but I still- it was close to, it was right about, maybe about 20 minutes over, where it was we should have been. I've decided that when I schedule my next one, it's going to be a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And then that way, I'd rather finish early on Sunday and start early on Friday than try to accelerate and cut corners to try and get to a quick time on Sundays. This is not happening.

David Kotz: 9:30

Clearly we agree on that because that's the way I like to teach my classes, as well. Hey, there's one other thing that I thought we might chat about, which is quality assurance at the Red Cross. And I say that in the best possible way. Clearly, they are there to bring a level of professionalism to our organization that has been lacking in the past and lacks at other certification agencies There have been a number of my colleagues on the East Coast that have been revoked recently and so I just wanted to put that out there to our colleagues throughout the rest of the world, the Red Cross Quality Assurance is taking this very seriously. They're proactive. They're not there to beat you up. They want you to succeed, but if you're teaching a lifeguard class in one day, you're not providing a good service to the students or their future victims.

Steve Murphy: 10:28

I agree wholeheartedly. Yeah, for sure.

David Kotz: 10:31

Anything else that you'd like to talk about, Mr. Murphy?

Steve Murphy: 10:34

Well, the only thing I have to say is that it's what I say to all my students: lifeguarding is an adult-job. With adult power, adult responsibility, and potentially adult consequences. I personally haven't lost anyone on my watch yet. Knock on wood, but I've known people- I've worked with who have, so I always train with the motivation of, hey, I would spare you that pain, so pay attention. Watch your water, know your skills, know your emergency action plan, don't just assume you know it, know it in your sleep, because the day will come when you have to use all that, and If you're not ready for the moment will judge you. And I've seen that happen to people.

David Kotz: 11:16

And history can judge very harshly.

Steve Murphy: 11:18

I've had my share of major incidents. Again, luckily they've all- I recognize the luck of the drowning. I could go and get somebody and there's nothing I could have done- even if I did everything right, there's still not going to make it. I would rather have that. I could live with that rather than make a catastrophic mistake.

David Kotz: 11:34

Listen, Steve, it's been a pleasure talking to you. I do believe we are twins. We're related somewhere. And sooner or later, we're going to teach a class together.

Steve Murphy: 11:42

Hey, even better. Yeah, for sure. Be up for that. Outstanding.

David Kotz: 11:45

To everyone else again, thank you for watching the LifeSaving chronicles. Remember, you can find us on YouTube and I think our producer, Michelle, is working on some other venues, as well. For me, it's Dave Kotz from National Safety Training Center. I hope to see you in class.