STARGUARD

When performing a vise grip, your hands should be located on the injured person's

upper arms.

Announcements to a crowd should be as detailed as possible to provide the best information available.

False

What is the proper ratio of bleach to water for a solution that will be used to clean up bodily fluids and fecal matter on surfaces around the pool?

1 part bleach to 9 parts water

When giving rescue breathing to an infant with an obvious pulse, you should give one breath every

3 to 5 seconds

Which term may be used to describe a person who is experiencing any or all of these symptoms: confusion, slowed thinking, loss of balance, impaired vision?

Altered mental status

What is the difference between distress and drowning?

A person is drowning if the face and airway (mouth and nose) are covered with water and the head cannot be lifted or brought to the surface to breathe.

What should you target and assess when you scan?

Anyone whose face or body is under the water, anything out of the ordinary, anything on the bottom, and symptoms of distress.

What determines whether water is "shallow" or not?

A person's height

What is the difference between a rule and a policy?

A rule applies to every person using an aquatic facility. A policy is for specific circumstances or situations that may not apply to everyone.

What should determine the size and location of a zone?

Ability to see every area of the zone and respond to rescue within about 30 seconds.

You are called to attend to a coworker who collapsed while lifeguarding on a hot day. He has an altered mental status and his skin is hot and sweaty. EMS has been called. What should you do?

Aggressively cool his body by pouring water, fanning, and applying ice packs.

A responsive adult has given you permission to provide first-aid care. The person is awake and talking and complains of feeling weak and dizzy. What should you do?

Alert EMS or activate your emergency action plan.

You are helping a man with asthma to use his prescribed inhaler. There is no improvement from the medication after 10 minutes, and the man appears to be struggling to breathe. What should you do?

Alert EMS or activate your emergency action plan.

If you are providing constant and dedicated surveillance, how often should you watch your zone?

All of the time, regardless of distractions or assigned tasks

You are attending to a responsive accident victim who has blood gushing out of a large wound in his leg. What should you do to control the bleeding?

Apply direct pressure with an absorbent pad until bleeding stops.

What risk area is the most urgent, and where should you look first while scanning 3-dimensionally?

At the bottom of the pool.

Which organs are at greatest risk for permanent damage during drowning?

Brain and heart

If you think someone is experiencing a medical emergency, but you aren't sure, what should you do?

Call 9-1-1 and let the dispatch center help you determine the need for response.

Which entry method has the lowest risk of back, leg, and foot injury and is useful in a wide range of water depths and circumstances?

Compact jump

What would you do if you were using standard (universal) precautions?

Consider and treat all bodily fluids and bodily substances as through they were contaminated.

You are caring for a patron who has a painful, blistered burn on her arm. What should you do?

Cool her burn with water as quickly as possible and continue cooling it until the pain is relieved.

You are attending to a person whom you suspect has heat exhaustion. What should you NOT do?

Cover the person's head and neck to help retain body heat.

Injury to the cervical spine or spinal cord has been found to be made worse by movements the injured person makes after the initial impact has occurred.

False

Personal protection equipment (PPE) should, at a minimum, include which items?

Disposable gloves, barrier (CPR) mask, protective eyewear, and footwear.

What is a critical link in the chain of survival for an unresponsive drowning victim?

Distress recognition

An injured person is restless, shivering, and his tissue color is pale. He is pleading with you for a drink of water. What should you do while waiting for EMS?

Do not give him anything to drink, and maintain normal body temperature.

Which is the correct description of drowning?

Drowning is a process with three possible outcomes: survival without brain damage, survival with brain damage, or death.

It is correct to say that a person had a "near drowning" if he or she survives.

False

In what position might you find a drowning person in the water?

Faceup, facedown, vertical, and/or horizontal.

A person always exhibits instinctive responses on the surface during the drowning process.

False

A person who is unresponsive under the water will be completely motionless.

False

It is not necessary to develop predetermined evacuation routes and methods ahead of time as part of an EAP, because each evacuation situation may be different.

False

When performing a leg wrap, you must swim to the surface, holding the drowning person, and then place him or her on the rescue tube.

False

In which situation might you need to evacuate patrons from the pool or the facility?

Fire, chemical spill or release, severe weather, and life-threatening rescue or emergency care in progress.

Where might a drowning person be located in the water?

Floating on the surface, floating just beneath the surface, floating near the bottom, and lying on the bottom.

What is an effective way to communicate with a large crowd?

Get the crowd's attention, then give directions in short phrases using a loud, clear voice.

Occupational exposure to blood or the bodily fluids from another person puts you at risk for which diseases?

HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV)

If a struggling person grabs you around the neck, why is it a good idea to submerge under the water with the person?

He will likely let go, because his objective is to stay on the surface.

You are caring for a girl who has been stung by a wasp and is having a severe allergic reaction to it. She has an epinephrine auto-injector but is having trouble handling the device due to her constant coughing. Her lips and face appear swollen. What should you do?

Help her use the device. If she is unable, administer it yourself.

Why is disease more likely to be transmitted through loose stools (diarrhea), rather than a solid stool?

If a person is ill with diarrhea, the stool can contain millions of germs that spread quickly through the water.

You are responding to a scene where there are multiple people injured. How can you determine who is in the most immediate need of care to prevent loss of life?

Immediately treat those who have profuse bleeding.

What is the difference between spinal motion restriction and immobilization?

Immobilization uses straps and devices to eliminate movement; spinal motion restriction directs a person to not move in any way that causes pain.

What are three ways to minimize the risk of injury in an aquatic facility?

Inspect for hazards, eliminate known hazards, and enforce rules.

What is an advantage to using drowning detection technology such as an underwater camera system?

It can enhance a lifeguard's ability to see under the water.

What is a characteristic of an effective emergency action plan (EAP)?

It is specific to each facility, it describes who does what, and when, it is clear and concise, and it includes separate plans for different types of emergencies.

When making a rear rescue, you should

Keep the rescue tube at your chest.

What is the most important thing to do when calling 9-1-1 or your local emergency number?

Listen carefully to the dispatcher.

What is the proper way to provide active spinal motion restriction?

Manually hold the person's head to limit movement.

Which of the following are germs that can cause recreational water illness?

Norovirus, cryptosporidium, E. coli, and giardia.

What is a good course of action if the behavior of another person is suspicious enough for you to be concerned?

Notify your supervisor and call for police assistance.

In addition to head, neck, or back pain, which additional symptoms indicate the potential for spinal injury?

Numbness or tingling, serious trauma anywhere on the body (distracting injury), intoxication, and/or altered mental status.

What might prevent a facedown person with a spinal injury from being able to roll over in the water?

Paralysis

Which of the layers of protection helps guide decisions and serves as a rule for specific circumstances?

Policies and procedures.

Before releasing a person back into the facility after a rescue, which TWO important things should you do?

Provide safety instructions so the person knows how to avoid another rescue situation and provide warning and instructions to watch for excessive cough, difficulty breathing, or any other worrisome symptoms that develop within 8 hours after the incident and to seek medical care immediately if these develop.

When dragging a person in an emergency, what should you NOT do?

Pull the person sideways, or pull the head away from the neck and shoulders.

What should you do when making a front rescue?

Push the rescue tube firmly into the person's chest and extend your arms, lock your elbows, and keep kicking.

What does RWI stand for?

Recreational Water Illness.

What conditions can cause a person who is under the water to be hidden from view?

Ripples on the surface caused by wind, water movement caused by people, glare from the angle of the sun, and reflection off of windows.

To recognize distress or drowning, which three crucial observation skills must you continuously perform?

Scan, target, and assess

What are the components of the STAAR aquatic rescue model?

Scan, target, assess, alert, rescue.

What is scanning?

Searching the water in a systematic way.

What is one way to make posture and position changes to help you stay alert and vigilant?

Switch between sitting, standing, and strolling about every 5 minutes.

What is the proper way to provide passive spinal motion restriction?

Tell the person not to make any movements that cause pain and guide her to a seated or lying position.

What is a zone?

The 3-dimensional area of the water you are assigned to scan.

What should you assume about blood and other body fluids from all persons?

The fluids are potentially infectious.

If a rescue occurs when several lifeguards are scanning adjacent zones, which lifeguard usually would take over surveillance of the rescuer's zone?

The lifeguard to the rescuer's left, unless another plan is in place.

Which statement related to rescues is true?

The objective of using a rescue tube during a water rescue is to minimize body-to-body contact between yourself and a distressed swimmer or drowning victim.

What happens when a drowning person tries to breathe?

The person may swallow large amounts of water.

What is a benefit of a leg-wrap rescue?

There is no upper-body-to-upper-body contact with a drowning victim, the lifeguard maintains control of the rescue tube, the lifeguard doesn't need to submerge as far to make a rescue.

Which is true of communication signals at most aquatic facilities?

They are a combination of hand signal and whistle blasts known and understood by all staff.

Why is it important to get air to a person who is drowning as quickly as possible?

To prevent or minimize brain damage, to prevent the heart from stopping, and to keep the organs functioning.

A lifeguard should be considered part of the prehospital system of care, along with EMS and other responders.

True

A policy that requires non-swimmers to stay in waist-deep water may reduce the risk of drowning.

True

Cell phones don't always show phone numbers and addresses to emergency medical dispatchers.

True

How quickly a person progresses from distress to drowning varies depending on many circumstances.

True

If a backboard is needed to extricate someone from the pool, it should be used as a stretcher-to move the person from one place to another-rather than as an immobilization device.

True

If a person is submerged face down in the water, and you are not aware of any forceful trauma event, you should consider that the person is unresponsive due to drowning, and act quickly without delay for spinal motion restriction.

True

If you interrupt the drowning process by making a rescue, a person may begin to spontaneously breathe by herself, or you may need to give rescue breaths.

True

If you scan too fast, you will not be able to assess what you see.

True

No research studies have proven that immobilizing a person with a suspected spinal injury is beneficial; in fact, many studies show that immobilization on a backboard can actually cause harm.

True

Strapping a person on a backboard and placing head immobilization devices (HIDs) for the sole purpose of immobilizing the spine is NOT an evidence-based practice.

True

Swimmers should not be allowed to participate in breath-holding or underwater swimming contests.

True

The ability to remain focused starts to decrease significantly after about 30 minutes.

True

The length of time that a person is submerged is the most important predictor of survival.

True

How long has the parasite cryptosporidium been known to survive, even in properly maintained swimming pool water?

Up to 11 days.

If a break in your skin is directly exposed to a patron's bodily fluids, what is the first thing you should do?

Wash the area with soap and water.

When does a proactive rotation begin?

When you begin to proceed to your lifeguard station.

To avoid injury to yourself when making a rear rescue

turn your head before making contact

To be effective, rules should be

Written in a clear, concise language, enforced the same way each time, and posted in a visible location.

In the United States, what does the legal principle of duty to act mean?

You have an obligation as a lifeguard to provide emergency care.

Chest compressions should be administered to adults, children, and infants at what rate?

at least 100 but not more than 120 times per minute

You can interrupt the drowning process by

bringing the person's face and airway above the water and giving rescue breaths if the person is not breathing normally.

What principle states that during an emergency, a responsive adult must agree to receive first aid?

consent

Spinal injuries can result if a person forcefully strikes his or her

head, neck, and back.

If you notice a person having a seizure in the water

hold the person's head above water so he or she can breathe.

A fast and effective method to help a distressed swimmer who is still responsive and within arm's reach is a

land-based assist.

The primary objective of a multiple-person rescue is to

maintain your safety.

The StarGuard Risk Management Model consists of the following:

prevention, surveillance, respond and rescue, emergency care, workplace expectations.

In an aquatic facility, slipping and falling is usually caused by

running.

Events that could cause trauma in an aquatic environment include forcefully hitting the head, neck, or back on

the pool wall or edge, the bottom (pool or shoreline), and/or another person or hard object.