Anyone with Q's about Lifeguarding at CP?

If any of you are going to be new to Cedar Point this summer and are thinking of applying for a Lifeguarding position, feel free to post your questions or concerns here. Having worked as an Ellis Pool and Waterpark Lifeguard for CP, I can help those of you who may be wondering if Lifeguarding is what you are looking for in a summer job at Cedar Point. In my opinion, it is one of the most rewarding positions to have at the park and I have gained so much from my experience.

I spent a good amount of time at Soak City last year and was quite impressed with the professionalism and quality of CP lifeguards. I am curious about one thing, though. What is the title of the "certification" requirement or course that you folks go through? Back in Dinosaur Days I worked beach patrol in Va. Beach for a couple summers and we all had to go through the Red Cross Lifesaving and Water Safety Instructor (WSI) Course. I have heard CP lifeguards refer to something else, (not RCL/WSI). What is your training called?

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The Old Dude
"Nothing says shoddy workmanship
like wrinkles in your duct tape."

CP lifeguards are "licensed" through the Jeff Ellis and Associates National Pool and Waterpark program. CP switched to the Ellis program from Red Cross in the summer of '97 because of the great rapport of the Ellis program as compared to Red Cross. Having been a Red Cross guard in the past, I find the Ellis program is way more practical and implements a lot of hands on training. I just finished taking the first class two weekends ago. We had a whole weekend devoted to water skills (swimming, treading water, etc.), many, many different types of rescue skills, and CPR/AED training. We had to pass a written test and "test out" on all in water skills. Unlike the Red Cross program where you spend most of your training in a classroom environment, Ellis candidates spend the majority of their training in the water - where it really matters. The training doesn't stop there either - all licensed Ellis guards are required to attend a minimum of 4 hours of in-service training a month to keep current on their skills. We also have to be ready for audits where Ellis associates come in and secretly videotape guards to make sure they're doing what they've been trained to do and that they're always professional! Cedar Point guards have always had 100% (or close to it) on their audits ever since the Eliis program was started there! To quote Bill Spehn (Director of Park Op, former Director of Challenge Park/Soak City), "Ellis has put the "LIFE" back into lifeguarding."
Sorry for being long winded... if you can't tell, I'm quite proud to be a part of this - especially now as a supervisor!

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Carrie's Cedar Point Employee Page
http://cpcarrie.tripod.com *** This post was edited by RipcordTL99 on 4/5/2000. ***

Thanks Carrie for explaining that one in detail. It's great to get that kind of feedback from some of our more frequent guests.

Thanks for the information! Sounds like the Ellis program is well in step with modern needs. If the CP lifeguards are any indication of the quality of Ellis graduates, then it gets my vote as the way to go! Keep up the good work at Soak City. I'll be there when the weather allows. I'll be the guy making 18-20 laps on the raft rides to work on my tan.

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The Old Dude
"Nothing says shoddy workmanship
like wrinkles in your duct tape."

Could you tell me exactly what the training includes? I heard that you have to be able to tread water for two minutes without using your arms. Can you elaborate on that and the rest of the stuff you have to do?

Q. for Lifegurard JB - Tell me more about the staffing needed at Soak City. Is there still a separate lifeguarding crew for the beach & S.C.? Rob.......

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Park Op. Employee:
Lifeguard: 1986; GL: 1987.
SoakCity GL: 1988 & Ride Host part-time:1989.

What do you actually do for the training part to get your license to work there? Is it hard?

bobdeal said:
Could you tell me exactly what the training includes? I heard that you have to be able to tread water for two minutes without using your arms. Can you elaborate on that and the rest of the stuff you have to do?

It depends where you work. I guard winters at Castaway (and then am a TL during the summer, not of lifeguards though) and we have a shallow water license, which is what most of Soak City guards have. A few have the special facilities license, which is for the beach crew and wave pool crew at Soak City. Where will you be guarding as that will make a difference what you have to do for your license?

I have a quick question that may or may not be a stupid one. This semester, I took a college first aid and safety class and earned my certification card for CPR and AED. Is that considered a good enough certification for lifegarding?

You will still have to go through guard class.

Okay, thanks. I was just curious.

Ok i have a few questions about lifeguarding at Cedar Point i got hired at soak city this summer.

First how are the beach/wave crews chosen? i`ve been at waterfront guard for 3 years and just working the shallow areas seems like it woud get boring really quick.

Also what are the rotations and breaks like for a typical day.

and last for my red cross certs i had a 500 yd swim, retrieve a brick, and dive to the deep end and grab a dummy for the precourse. What are the swim tes requirements for Ellis distance, time limit nd strokes required?

Thanks and cant`t wait for this summer!!!

I don't specifically remember Ellis but it was roughly similar. we had an actual person to grab onto, not a dummy, the rest was all the same if I recall.

I got put on Wave because they added in a bit more to the test, something like treading water, keeping your shoulders above water for a couple of minutes with the wave pool turned on. I think that was what we did. If you could do that without struggling they gave you the special facilities cert which means wave/open water.

For rotations, it depends on the crew and day, if you're in the park and not on the beach you start passing something around, basically when it gets to you, you take it, move on to the next position and everybody continues to rotate around until you get relieved for a break. Depending on the day there may be more positions open so rotation takes longer to get around.

Do lifeguards train through ellis and associates after or before they process in?

After the process in. Processing in is the VERY first thing you do in your employment. If you don't pass your certification for some reason there are plenty of other locations in Challenge Park (little known fact, Soak City is part of Challenge Park, not the other way around LOL) and the park in general that you can work.

I am not sure how often they do training classes but if you start after Soak City is open you may end up working tops, and even admissions or elsewhere until you pass your class.