Professional Standards

It is the ethical and legal duty of all lifeguard professionals to exercise the highest level of ability, care, diligence, and skill and to follow the policies and procedures of their agency in the performance of their duties. CSLSA lifeguards practice the best methods of training and display the highest principles of conduct in performing their jobs as professional lifesavers.

The CSLSA professional standards committee's mission is to research and share information to help standardize all California lifeguard agencies where possible after reviewing Federal, State, and Local laws and practices and to set forth these recommendations to ensure that all lifeguards in California are provided with the tools, skills, and qualifications needed to be a rescue professional.

Committee Goals
The Professional Standards committee's goals are to:

• Identify the minimum standards and qualifications of open water lifeguards.
• Monitor current Federal, State, and Local laws that set minimum requirements for lifeguards.
• Enhance the recognition of open water lifeguards as highly trained emergency rescue professionals, similar to Fire and Police personnel.

Committee Tasks
The Professional Standards committee, formed in 2015, will spend most of its time collecting data, creating surveys, evaluating areas of need, and organizing a plan of implementation. The sharing of ideas across agencies is critical, as is the understanding of federal, state, and local guidelines. The committee reports will be shared with the CSLSA Board of Directors every six months.