Section 2—Lifeguarding Skills:
Exam B
IMPORTANT: Read all instructions before beginning the exam.
INSTRUCTIONS: Mark all answers in pencil on a separate answer sheet. Do not write on this
exam. The questions on this exam are multiple choice. Read each question carefully. Then choose
the best answer and fill in that circle on the answer sheet. If you wish to change an answer, erase
your first answer completely. Return this exam to your instructor when you are finished.
EXAMPLE
ANSWER SHEET
xx.
a
b
c
d
XX. Why does the American Red Cross teach this course?
a.
b.
c.
d.
To help people stay calm in emergencies.
To help people make appropriate decisions when they are confronted with an emergency.
To help people in an emergency keep a victim’s injuries from getting worse until
emergency medical services (EMS) personnel arrive and take over.
All of the above
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1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
During morning adult lap swim, you notice a swimmer who slows down and is
no longer able to make any forward progress. Which of the following is true?
They have become a passive victim.
They are an active victim.
You should continue to scan the pool and watch to see if their condition
worsens.
They are in danger of becoming an active victim if not assisted.
When caring for a suspected head, neck or spinal injury in the water:
Move the victim directly onto a backboard.
Remove the victim from the water without wasting time trying to stabilize the
victim’s head and neck until you have the victim out of the water.
Remove your rescue tube and use the head hold technique.
Minimize movement of the victim’s head and neck using the head splint
technique.
3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
If three lifeguards are on duty, emergency back-up coverage takes place:
When a lifeguard is unable to show up to work for their shift.
Whenever the facility EAP is activated.
When a lifeguard enters the water for a rescue.
When the facility has more patrons than its designed capacity allows.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
When conducting a swim test, Lifeguards should use the:
Safe Swimming Sequence
Water Competency Sequence
Safe Swimming Steps
Water Safety Steps
5.
a.
Which of the following is true about accidental fecal releases (AFRs)?
ARRs are part of the routine daily operation of a pool that must be done for
safety.
AFRs do not require immediate attention.
Require water treatment, temporary pool closure and immediate lifeguard
attention.
Managers only need to be concerned with AFRs.
b.
c.
d.
6.
a.
b.
c.
d.
It is very hot in your facility and you are starting to doze on the stand. All of the
following can help you stay alert EXECPT for:
Jumping in the pool while on surveillance duty to cool off.
Rotating more frequently.
Staying in a cooler area during breaks.
Staying hydrated while drinking plenty of water.
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7.
a.
b.
c.
d.
8.
a.
b.
c.
d.
9.
a.
b.
c.
d.
10.
a.
b.
c.
d.
You enter the mechanical room and find a maintenance worker lying on their
back on the floor next to a ladder. You check the scene and determine it is safe
to enter. During your primary assessment, you find the victim is unresponsive
but breathing. You must leave to get help, what should you do?
Leave the victim just as they are.
Do not leave the victim since they are breathing, monitor their condition and
wait for additional help to come.
Place the victim in a recovery position.
Use a clothes drag to move the victim to where you can summon more help.
When completing an incident report:
Collect all factual information about what was seen, heard and the actions
taken.
Include all details about the incident, including your opinion about how the
incident happened.
Do not allow the victim to leave until you have completed the report and your
supervisor has signed it.
Allow witnesses to discuss their thoughts about the incident before compiling
their statements onto one report.
You are lifeguarding during a family swim session when you notice a swimmer
swimming full lengths of the pool under water. What should you do?
Activate the facility EAP, clear the pool and remove them from the pool.
Immediately get the attention of the swimmer and instruct them to leave the
pool for breaking pool rules.
Alert the pool manager of the situation once your shift is over and document the
event.
Immediately stop them from continuing the activity and explain the dangers of
the activity.
Which of the following is true of a submerged, unresponsive victim in deep
water that you suspect has a spinal injury?
You must keep your rescue tube on throughout the rescue.
If the victim is not breathing, you would remove the victim from the water
immediately without strapping them to a backboard.
To minimize movement, you should keep them in the deep end of the pool
during the rescue.
You should provide in-water ventilations while other lifeguards strap the victim
to the backboard.
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11.
a.
b.
c.
d.
12.
a.
b.
c.
d.
13.
a.
b.
c.
d.
14.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A lifeguard keeps an eye on the patrons of the pool, actively searching and
checking the bottom, middle and surface of the water. The lifeguard is
demonstrating:
Effective communication.
Effective scanning.
Implied consent.
The RID factor.
A child accidentally falls from the deck into the water and is in distress. After
you activate the emergency action plan (EAP), what are included in your next
steps?
Enter the water, approach the victim and bring them to a safe exit point.
Clear the pool and alert management of the emergency.
Encourage them to stay calm and swim back to the edge of the pool.
Obtain consent from the child’s parent before rescuing the child.
You enter the water to rescue a victim with a suspected spinal injury. You
determine that the victim is not breathing. What should you do next?
Remove the victim water using a modified spinal backboarding procedure.
Remove the victim from the water using the spinal backboarding procedure.
Remove the victim from the water using the Extrication Using a Backboard at
the Pool Edge technique.
Delay removal from the water and provide 2 minutes of in-water ventilations.
While searching your zone, you notice a person motionless in the water. The
steps you follow in a water emergency are performed in the following order:
Activate the EAP, enter the water, perform an appropriate rescue, move the
victim to a safe exit point, remove the victim from the water and provide
emergency care as needed.
Perform a secondary assessment, perform a primary assessment, size-up the
scene, activate the emergency action plan (EAP), and summon EMS personnel.
Perform a primary assessment, activate the EAP, summon EMS personnel,
perform a secondary assessment and size-up the scene.
Size-up the scene, activate the EAP, form an initial impression, summon EMS
personnel, perform a primary assessment and perform a secondary
assessment.
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15.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A parent and child walk over to you; the parent states that the child fell on the
pool deck and hit their head. You notice there is blood and fluid running from
the child’s ear and they are feeling dizzy. You activate the EAP and summon
EMS personnel. What steps should you take next?
Have the child lie down on the pool deck and perform a secondary assessment
while waiting for EMS personnel to arrive.
Provide manual stabilization while the other lifeguards prepare to backboard.
Bring the child a chair, as them to sit down and tell them not to move. Perform a
secondary assessment while waiting for EMS personnel to arrive.
Have the parent transport the child to the emergency room since they are
already walking.
16.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Which of the following is a primary responsibility of a lifeguard?
Testing the pool water chemistry
Enforcing facility rules and regulations and educating patrons about them
Monitoring the performance of the other lifeguards on duty
Performing opening duties, closing duties or facility safety checks and
inspections
17.
While searching your zone, you witness a patron struggling while swimming and
then go under water. Which of the following applies?
You would use the RID factor to determine what to do.
You should notify off duty lifeguards to provide care for the victim.
You should continue to scan the pool until emergency back-up coverage is
available.
You have duty to act and perform the appropriate rescue.
a.
b.
c.
d.
18.
a.
b.
c.
d.
19.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A lifeguard can no longer see some of the patrons at one side of the swimming
area from their station because of glare from the afternoon sun. To maintain
effective patron surveillance, the lifeguard should:
Adjust their position slightly to remove the glare from the surveillance area.
Leave the area to find the supervisor for assistance.
Stay in the same position since the patrons are strong swimmers.
Document the issue and present it at next month’s staff meeting.
A large number of patrons are swimming at the facility. For effective patron
surveillance, your supervisor decides to add another lifeguard station and tells
you to modify the zone coverage based on the new station to:
Allow the lifeguards to take turns scanning the good swimmers.
Reduce the number of patrons watched by each lifeguard.
Allow the lifeguards to take turns walking up and down the deck.
Increase the number of patrons watched by each lifeguard.
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20.
a.
b.
c.
d.
21.
a.
b.
c.
d.
22.
a.
b.
c.
d.
23.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A child is running on the pool deck. You blow your whistle to get their attention.
Next, you enforce the rules and regulations by:
Calling your supervisor.
Telling them they could slip or fall and must walk on the deck.
Giving them a warning.
Telling them they might be asked to leave and demanding they stop it now.
A patron collides with another swimmer while diving into the pool and asks the
lifeguard for help. Without performing an assessment, the lifeguard tells the
patron that they can continue swimming. The patron leaves the facility and
seeks medical attention from a hospital after they begins to feel tingling
sensations in their arms and legs. The lifeguard may be:
Negligent.
A Good Samaritan.
Following the refusal-of-care principle.
Using the RID factor.
During in-service training, lifeguards practice the steps of recognizing a
distressed swimmer, rescuing an active victim, informing management and
speaking with witnesses. The lifeguards are practicing parts of a(n):
Communication plan.
Staff debriefing.
Secondary assessment.
Emergency action plan.
In the event of thunder and lightning at an outdoor facility, lifeguards should:
Clear everyone from the water and send them into the locker room to take
showers during the thunderstorm.
Keep watching for lightning strikes near the facility while patrons continue to
swim.
Clear everyone from the water at the first sound of thunder or first sighting of
lightning.
Keep watching for more storms and monitor weather reports while patrons
continue to swim.
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24.
a.
b.
c.
d.
25.
a.
b.
c.
d.
26.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The lifeguard supervisor expects the pool to be very busy in the afternoon. For
effective patron surveillance, the supervisor sets up multiple lifeguard stations
to reduce the number of patrons watched by each lifeguard. This type of
coverage is called:
Back-up coverage.
Zone coverage.
Rescue coverage.
Total coverage.
The objective of the facility safety team is to:
Assist lifeguards in maintaining a safe environment and providing emergency
care.
Help lifeguards understand the facility’s EAP.
Provide emergency back-up coverage when lifeguards are performing a water
rescue.
Perform patron surveillance when lifeguards need to take a break.
The following statements describe appropriate rescue techniques for a victim
with a suspected spinal injury, EXCEPT:
If the victim is small and is in shallow water, you do not need to use a
backboard to extricate the victim.
If the victim is in shallow water, you do not need to use a rescue tube to support
yourself.
If the victim is at the surface in deep water, you may need a rescue tube to
support yourself and the victim.
If the victim is submerged, you should not use the rescue tube when
submerging and bringing the victim to the surface.
27.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A head, neck or spinal injury rarely happens:
When someone is running on the pool deck.
From collisions between swimmers.
In deep water at a supervised facility.
In shallow water that is clearly signed No Diving.
28.
Which of the following statement(s) are true about the equipment that lifeguards
should wear or carry?
Lifeguard should either wear a hip pack, or keep it strapped to their chair for
easy access.
Lifeguards should keep latex gloves in their hip pack at all times.
Lifeguards should wear their rescue tube at all times when on surveillance duty.
All of the above.
a.
b.
c.
d.
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29.
a.
b.
c.
d.
30.
a.
b.
c.
d.
31.
a.
b.
c.
d.
32.
a.
b.
c.
d.
33.
a.
b.
c.
d.
After removing a responsive victim you suspect has a spinal injury from the
water, you should do all the following except:
Activate your facility’s EAP.
Dry the victim off and apply the pads of an AED.
Protect the victim from becoming cold.
Reassure the victim and perform a secondary assessment.
Members of the safety team, including non-lifeguard personnel, should be:
Trained to follow the other EAP duties that do not involve providing care.
Trained in CPR if they interested in receiving training.
Trained and certified in first aid and CPR/ AED at the same level of the lifeguard
team.
Trained in first aid and CPR for non-professionals.
You are approaching a victim who is horizontal in the water, at the surface in 4
feet of water. The victim is facing you and appears to be unconscious. What
rescue technique would be appropriate in this situation?
Active victim front rescue.
Passive victim front rescue.
Passive victim in extreme shallow water – face up.
Submerged victim in shallow water.
A patron dives into the shallow end of the lap pool. You suspect a head, neck or
spinal injury because the patron performed a high-risk, high-impact activity and
has:
Blood in the ears and nose.
An elevated body temperature.
Impaired hearing.
An irregular heartbeat.
As a lifeguard, you may expect to participate in all of the following drills to
evaluate the effectiveness of your zone EXCEPT:
Tell Drill
Ask Drill
Live Recognition Drill
Lifeguard Station Response Time Testing
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34.
a.
b.
c.
d.
35.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The size and shape of a lifeguard’s zone should allow them to recognize and
reach a victim in the furthest and deepest part of their zone within:
1 ½ minutes
2 minutes
30 seconds
45 seconds
When placing a responsive victim with a suspected head, neck or spinal injury
on a backboard, what in-line stabilization technique should you use?
The head and chin support
The over-arm head splint
The recovery position
The hand hold position
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