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Cool for School: Learning to be a Lifeguard

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Summer has just begun but already it's scorching outside. Fortunately for Chase Mead and several other high schoolers, today they are spending it by the pool...learning to be a lifeguard.

"I just think it's a great opportunity," said Mead. "It's a great summer job. I'd rather be out in the sun at a pool than indoors all day flipping burgers or something, so it's just a cool job to have."

And a very popular one, according to Aquatics Director Leslie Adams.

"We usually train over 100 lifeguards every year and we try to hire 50 to 80 every year to add to our staff because people come and go, but it's a really great job," explains Adams. "People can have flexible schedules, they can be outside, meet new friends, it's a really great job."

But first, the lifeguards-to-be have to go through 40 hours of training in lifeguarding, first aid, CPR and AED use and administering emergency oxygen, then have to take a certification test before they can get hired on.

"It's actually more than I thought," Victor Castillo answered when asked about the level of difficulty of learning to be a lifeguard. "I thought it was gonna be pretty easy but it takes a lot of endurance. You have to have the want to do it first. I play baseball, you have to have a lot of endurance for baseball as well, but you have to have a lot of endurance for this."

And a love for the life of a lifeguard.

When asked what he will enjoy most, Chase Mead said, "Just being able to learn responsibilities that will help me throughout life and it's a cool summer job to have."

Think you have what it takes to be a lifeguard? Interested in becoming one? If so, talk to your city's swimming pools or the local Red Cross.

Video coming soon. Check back with www.wtxl.tv.