making of an NTU lifeguard
some 6 months ago, a friend aked me to join him in signing up for the Lifeguard Course. the fee was $200 and I balked at it, plus we were on Industrial Attachment. his reasoning was that since I am so mad about scuba diving, i need to add I have only been on one trip, that taking up the course would be beneficial for me. also, as i have aspirations of someday being a divemaster, the CPR qualifications from this course can be used to offset part of the requirements for the rescue diver course, a pre-requisite to being a divemaster. whatsmore, the trainings were all held in the evenings, so it really did not matter in terms of being on IA. sad to say, due to various reasons, i ended up signing up for the lifeguard course on my own.
when we first started out, i was one of the weaker if not the weakest swimmer there. granted i had some semblance of stamina but my speed was way off. to top it off i was not very light then. i weighed in at a hefty 97kg when the course first started. whoever i paired up with was going to have a hell of a time partnering me. apart from missing one training, to support a friend for his dance performance and to pick up the tickets for another's chior performance ticket, i was present at all trainings. slowly, through the months, my speed started to improve, so did my stamina.
due to some scheduling problems, the initial Lifesaving 123 test was postponed for a whole month, with the Bronze Medallion test pushed further back. in a way it was a blessing to me as it allowed me to further improve upon my speed, technique and stamina. the test turned out to be somewhat of a training session than a test. we were put through the test sequence but the examiner discused with us the finer points behind each segment to allow us to better understand what we are doing and what it is for.
after the lifesaving test, the course was suspended till after the exams. during the lull, i passed my driving test, Class 3 leh not 3A. 24 coming to 25 years old then get my licence, a bit old and at my second attempt some more but 4 points only leh. hee hee. barely a few days after my driving test, i got into cycling accident on mt faber. i got badly injured and was on MC for 2 weeks. throughout my recovery phase, due to my teeth being weak, i was forced upon liquid dies and dropped a massive 10 kgs within the first 2 weeks. by the time training resumed for the bronze medallion segment, i had fell to a weight of 84kg and was still dropping.
the weight lost helped me as my speed strated to improve by alot. one of the test segment requires us to swim 50 meters and tow the victimm for 50 meters under 3mins 15 seconds. initially i was doing timings of 4mins+, 3mins 40seconds. i just could not pass. but now, i was clocking 3mins 20seconds to 3mins 25 seconds. passing was getting close. by the time the mock test came about, i finally made the timing for the first time, 3mins 11 seconds. phew!
A shot of all the trainees after the mock test (suffendi is not in the picture as he left early)
due to a restriction on the part of the singapore life saving society on the number of testees to examiner, we were split into 2 groups to take the test. i was within the first group. below was one of the email we were sharing after the test
My head was the first on the chopping board, of course tense lah. Hahaha. Hey Jacques, how could you mix up Sedia and Senandiri? Hee hee. Kenna real-life actual situation for CPR improvisation some more. Hwah, damn stress man. It was a relief that our direction was correct although we did not list all possibilities.
Just to share what Yuen Toong and I was asked. This is for your reference as from what we understand, Mr Tan's style is very different. Having been around for every pair's questioning, the standard stuff was the Respiratory and Blood Circulation system. Choking had me first performing back blows followed by the Heimlich maneuver on Yuen Toong, while I was simulating a pregnant lady and Yuen Toong performed the Chest Thrust on me. We were quizzed why we went with back blow first then proceeded with Heimlich. Do note if your victim could, Speak Breathe or Cough initially and you would get the answer. 2 pairs were quizzed on infant choking and CPR, while the other 2 pairs were quizzed on child choking and CPR. Abdominal thrust was tested for all. For the pregnant lady chest thrust, we were taught that the way to locate the point for thrusting would be the center point on the chest between the armpits, reason being that for pregnant ladies, with their large tummy, it would not be possible to locate the sternum in our usual CPR way. Remember that you thrust inwards with your thumb tucked into your fist and flushed, not with your knuckle for Chest Thrust. The use of the knuckle is only for Heimlich. A question that stumped Yuen Toong and me was how long could the brain go without Oxygen before suffering from Brain Damage. We kind of forgot that answer and tried to smoke our way through, causing Edward to shake his head in disbelief and great disappointment to Joel with plenty of palm to forehead, face wiping, saliva sucking and deep breathing action with our wild shooting. The look on Joel's face towards the end of the CPR test was one of classic "Sian 1/2". I bet his face must have been very clean and his stomach filled with saliva by the time all of us completed the CPR test. Hahaha.
Each pair was given different scenarios for the CPR improvisation. Yuen Toong and I were given a situation Edward witnessed. A group of people were playing soccer and this guy got hit in the face, smashing his glasses and knocking him unconscious. He suffered from cuts to the eye, cuts to the nose with nose bleeding, broken teeth and cut lips. What would we do and why would we choose to do that first? We gave our answer and thankfully we were on the right path though we were getting worried by then. The answer given to us by Edward was what he saw the Paramedic did. After the D-R-A-B-C, the paramedic moved the victim into a sitting position, tilting foward at about 45 degrees, nose pinched. This allowed the blood to clot in the nose. After a while, i forgot the timing, the victim was leaned back at about 45 degrees and EAR was performed. After each cycle, the victim was leaned forward again and the process repeated until the victim revived.
Anyway guys, if Eugene, Yuen Toong and I being the slowest trio in the group can clear, you guys have nothing to fear. In a test condition, the adrenaline rush is there. You will pia and pia and will be amazed by your timing. Serious. Sub-3min was once a seemingly impossible target for me. Even I was amazed by it. However, I must agree with Jacques that our waterworks segment was indeed on the lenient side. The look on our faces of the first group while waiting for the 3:15 was of pure concentration. We tried to create some banter to help relax the atmosphere but ultimately we only had the event in our minds. I almost did an incredible hulk with my top. Hahaha. I yanked at the bottom edge of my No.4 top and was very lucky that 3 buttons came undone at one shot leaving me with only one last button to go. That really helped me, for although I was the first to hit the water, I was the last to arrive to my victim. Don't know about the rest but I was pretty drained after the 3:15 and we all opted to go with Breaststroke for the victim restrain segment. Thankfully Edward gave us some briefing after each segment and allowed us to get some rest bite and catch our breath. After the 2nd group had cleared all the events, it was pure joy and elation. We had all cleared. Phew. Our efforts paid off.
WE ARE LIFEGUARDS NOW!
The new batch of lifeguards after the first test
Yuen Toong, my partner for both tests
T-shirt Presentation. Our instructor Joel, prsenting me with my Lifeguard t-shirt.
New Lifeguards
At the debrief of the second test. Guess which is me. Hee hee.
>
Gareth & I, another one of the instructors
when we first started out, i was one of the weaker if not the weakest swimmer there. granted i had some semblance of stamina but my speed was way off. to top it off i was not very light then. i weighed in at a hefty 97kg when the course first started. whoever i paired up with was going to have a hell of a time partnering me. apart from missing one training, to support a friend for his dance performance and to pick up the tickets for another's chior performance ticket, i was present at all trainings. slowly, through the months, my speed started to improve, so did my stamina.
due to some scheduling problems, the initial Lifesaving 123 test was postponed for a whole month, with the Bronze Medallion test pushed further back. in a way it was a blessing to me as it allowed me to further improve upon my speed, technique and stamina. the test turned out to be somewhat of a training session than a test. we were put through the test sequence but the examiner discused with us the finer points behind each segment to allow us to better understand what we are doing and what it is for.
after the lifesaving test, the course was suspended till after the exams. during the lull, i passed my driving test, Class 3 leh not 3A. 24 coming to 25 years old then get my licence, a bit old and at my second attempt some more but 4 points only leh. hee hee. barely a few days after my driving test, i got into cycling accident on mt faber. i got badly injured and was on MC for 2 weeks. throughout my recovery phase, due to my teeth being weak, i was forced upon liquid dies and dropped a massive 10 kgs within the first 2 weeks. by the time training resumed for the bronze medallion segment, i had fell to a weight of 84kg and was still dropping.
the weight lost helped me as my speed strated to improve by alot. one of the test segment requires us to swim 50 meters and tow the victimm for 50 meters under 3mins 15 seconds. initially i was doing timings of 4mins+, 3mins 40seconds. i just could not pass. but now, i was clocking 3mins 20seconds to 3mins 25 seconds. passing was getting close. by the time the mock test came about, i finally made the timing for the first time, 3mins 11 seconds. phew!
A shot of all the trainees after the mock test (suffendi is not in the picture as he left early)
due to a restriction on the part of the singapore life saving society on the number of testees to examiner, we were split into 2 groups to take the test. i was within the first group. below was one of the email we were sharing after the test
My head was the first on the chopping board, of course tense lah. Hahaha. Hey Jacques, how could you mix up Sedia and Senandiri? Hee hee. Kenna real-life actual situation for CPR improvisation some more. Hwah, damn stress man. It was a relief that our direction was correct although we did not list all possibilities.
Just to share what Yuen Toong and I was asked. This is for your reference as from what we understand, Mr Tan's style is very different. Having been around for every pair's questioning, the standard stuff was the Respiratory and Blood Circulation system. Choking had me first performing back blows followed by the Heimlich maneuver on Yuen Toong, while I was simulating a pregnant lady and Yuen Toong performed the Chest Thrust on me. We were quizzed why we went with back blow first then proceeded with Heimlich. Do note if your victim could, Speak Breathe or Cough initially and you would get the answer. 2 pairs were quizzed on infant choking and CPR, while the other 2 pairs were quizzed on child choking and CPR. Abdominal thrust was tested for all. For the pregnant lady chest thrust, we were taught that the way to locate the point for thrusting would be the center point on the chest between the armpits, reason being that for pregnant ladies, with their large tummy, it would not be possible to locate the sternum in our usual CPR way. Remember that you thrust inwards with your thumb tucked into your fist and flushed, not with your knuckle for Chest Thrust. The use of the knuckle is only for Heimlich. A question that stumped Yuen Toong and me was how long could the brain go without Oxygen before suffering from Brain Damage. We kind of forgot that answer and tried to smoke our way through, causing Edward to shake his head in disbelief and great disappointment to Joel with plenty of palm to forehead, face wiping, saliva sucking and deep breathing action with our wild shooting. The look on Joel's face towards the end of the CPR test was one of classic "Sian 1/2". I bet his face must have been very clean and his stomach filled with saliva by the time all of us completed the CPR test. Hahaha.
Each pair was given different scenarios for the CPR improvisation. Yuen Toong and I were given a situation Edward witnessed. A group of people were playing soccer and this guy got hit in the face, smashing his glasses and knocking him unconscious. He suffered from cuts to the eye, cuts to the nose with nose bleeding, broken teeth and cut lips. What would we do and why would we choose to do that first? We gave our answer and thankfully we were on the right path though we were getting worried by then. The answer given to us by Edward was what he saw the Paramedic did. After the D-R-A-B-C, the paramedic moved the victim into a sitting position, tilting foward at about 45 degrees, nose pinched. This allowed the blood to clot in the nose. After a while, i forgot the timing, the victim was leaned back at about 45 degrees and EAR was performed. After each cycle, the victim was leaned forward again and the process repeated until the victim revived.
Anyway guys, if Eugene, Yuen Toong and I being the slowest trio in the group can clear, you guys have nothing to fear. In a test condition, the adrenaline rush is there. You will pia and pia and will be amazed by your timing. Serious. Sub-3min was once a seemingly impossible target for me. Even I was amazed by it. However, I must agree with Jacques that our waterworks segment was indeed on the lenient side. The look on our faces of the first group while waiting for the 3:15 was of pure concentration. We tried to create some banter to help relax the atmosphere but ultimately we only had the event in our minds. I almost did an incredible hulk with my top. Hahaha. I yanked at the bottom edge of my No.4 top and was very lucky that 3 buttons came undone at one shot leaving me with only one last button to go. That really helped me, for although I was the first to hit the water, I was the last to arrive to my victim. Don't know about the rest but I was pretty drained after the 3:15 and we all opted to go with Breaststroke for the victim restrain segment. Thankfully Edward gave us some briefing after each segment and allowed us to get some rest bite and catch our breath. After the 2nd group had cleared all the events, it was pure joy and elation. We had all cleared. Phew. Our efforts paid off.
WE ARE LIFEGUARDS NOW!
The new batch of lifeguards after the first test
Yuen Toong, my partner for both tests
T-shirt Presentation. Our instructor Joel, prsenting me with my Lifeguard t-shirt.
New Lifeguards
At the debrief of the second test. Guess which is me. Hee hee.
>
Gareth & I, another one of the instructors
posted by Prosage at 11:58 am
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