ABSTRACT
The key to understanding medical standards for beach lifeguards is risk management. Risk management drives whether a beach is guarded in the first place and then drives how many lifeguards, and with what skills, are deployed on a beach. Continuation of this process reveals that lifeguarding is a ‘safety critical task’ and dictates that the risk that lifeguards themselves pose to the safe operation of the lifeguarding system must be assessed. Questions about adequate fitness and visual acuity are dealt with in other chapters. This chapter deals with what medical standards are appropriate. Readers wanting detailed information about what standards will be applied to a particular condition are referred to (in) the references at the end of this chapter; these standards are regularly reviewed and updated by the appropriate authorities. Issues of physical disability are dealt with objectively through the application of standards of physical fitness.
