YMCA LIFEGUARDING 2026 EXAMINATION SET
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GUARANTEE A+
✔✔Entire-area coverage - ✔✔A single lifeguard supervises the entire swimming area
✔✔Epiglottis - ✔✔A flap of tissue that seals off the windpipe and prevents food from
entering.
✔✔glottis - ✔✔mouth of windpipe
✔✔Esophagus - ✔✔A muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach.
✔✔Flash rip current - ✔✔A temporary, short-term rip current related to heavy surf
✔✔Good Samaritan Law - ✔✔Provides limited protection to someone who voluntarily
chooses to provide first aid
✔✔Heat exhaustion - ✔✔The nausea, weakness, and dizziness caused by the loss of
electrolytes and water through excessive sweating
✔✔Heat stroke - ✔✔A life-threatening condition of severe hyperthermia caused by
exposure to excessive natural or artificial heat, marked by warm, dry skin; severely
altered mental status; and often irreversible coma.
✔✔Hypothermia - ✔✔a condition in which body temperature becomes dangerously low
✔✔Hyperventilation - ✔✔excessively rapid or deep breathing
✔✔Hypoxia - ✔✔Low oxygen saturation of the body, not enough oxygen in the blood
✔✔Initial apnea - ✔✔First stage of the drowning process. Victim is unable to inhale air
or expel Co2
✔✔In-line stabilization - ✔✔A technique used to minimize movement of a victim's head
and neck while providing care.
✔✔jaw-thrust maneuver - ✔✔Technique to open the airway by placing the fingers
behind the angle of the jaw and bringing the jaw forward
✔✔Laceration - ✔✔a cut, tear
✔✔Liability - ✔✔Legal responsibility
✔✔Life jacket - ✔✔A device that provides buoyancy
, ✔✔Lifeline - ✔✔Safety rails
✔✔Negligence - ✔✔careless neglect, often resulting in injury
✔✔PACA - ✔✔Problem, alternatives, consequences, action
✔✔Parallel current - ✔✔A flow of water that follows the shoreline and high waves
usually caused by waves that break the shore at an angle
✔✔Pathogen - ✔✔A disease causing agent
✔✔Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - ✔✔Protective equipment that blocks
exposure to a pathogen or a hazardous material.
✔✔Ph level - ✔✔a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is, recommended ph level
for a pool is: 7.2-7.4
✔✔Proximate cause - ✔✔Legal cause; exists when the connection between an act and
an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability.
✔✔Puncture - ✔✔a small hole made by a sharp object, a stab wound
✔✔Rescue breathing - ✔✔breathing for a person who is not breathing on his or her own
✔✔Rescue flotation device - ✔✔A piece of equipment that can be secured to the body
with a strap and that serves as a flotation aid to assist the lifeguard in performing a
rescue
✔✔Resuscitation mask - ✔✔A pliable, dome-shaped device that fits over a person's
mouth and nose; used to assist with rescue breathing.
✔✔Rip current - ✔✔A channel of water flowing away from and perpendicular to shore.
Rip currents are hazardous for all swimmers. A swimmer can escape a rip current by
swimming in a direction parallel to the shore
✔✔Scanning - ✔✔System of visual observation in which a lifeguard performs
systematic visual sweeps of facility
✔✔Shallow water - ✔✔Measurement of water depth, based on swimmer's height
✔✔River current - ✔✔Seaward flow of water river. Victim may diagonally swim across.
✔✔Suddenly cardiac arrest - ✔✔The abrupt stopping of the pumping action of the heart
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GUARANTEE A+
✔✔Entire-area coverage - ✔✔A single lifeguard supervises the entire swimming area
✔✔Epiglottis - ✔✔A flap of tissue that seals off the windpipe and prevents food from
entering.
✔✔glottis - ✔✔mouth of windpipe
✔✔Esophagus - ✔✔A muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach.
✔✔Flash rip current - ✔✔A temporary, short-term rip current related to heavy surf
✔✔Good Samaritan Law - ✔✔Provides limited protection to someone who voluntarily
chooses to provide first aid
✔✔Heat exhaustion - ✔✔The nausea, weakness, and dizziness caused by the loss of
electrolytes and water through excessive sweating
✔✔Heat stroke - ✔✔A life-threatening condition of severe hyperthermia caused by
exposure to excessive natural or artificial heat, marked by warm, dry skin; severely
altered mental status; and often irreversible coma.
✔✔Hypothermia - ✔✔a condition in which body temperature becomes dangerously low
✔✔Hyperventilation - ✔✔excessively rapid or deep breathing
✔✔Hypoxia - ✔✔Low oxygen saturation of the body, not enough oxygen in the blood
✔✔Initial apnea - ✔✔First stage of the drowning process. Victim is unable to inhale air
or expel Co2
✔✔In-line stabilization - ✔✔A technique used to minimize movement of a victim's head
and neck while providing care.
✔✔jaw-thrust maneuver - ✔✔Technique to open the airway by placing the fingers
behind the angle of the jaw and bringing the jaw forward
✔✔Laceration - ✔✔a cut, tear
✔✔Liability - ✔✔Legal responsibility
✔✔Life jacket - ✔✔A device that provides buoyancy
, ✔✔Lifeline - ✔✔Safety rails
✔✔Negligence - ✔✔careless neglect, often resulting in injury
✔✔PACA - ✔✔Problem, alternatives, consequences, action
✔✔Parallel current - ✔✔A flow of water that follows the shoreline and high waves
usually caused by waves that break the shore at an angle
✔✔Pathogen - ✔✔A disease causing agent
✔✔Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - ✔✔Protective equipment that blocks
exposure to a pathogen or a hazardous material.
✔✔Ph level - ✔✔a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is, recommended ph level
for a pool is: 7.2-7.4
✔✔Proximate cause - ✔✔Legal cause; exists when the connection between an act and
an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability.
✔✔Puncture - ✔✔a small hole made by a sharp object, a stab wound
✔✔Rescue breathing - ✔✔breathing for a person who is not breathing on his or her own
✔✔Rescue flotation device - ✔✔A piece of equipment that can be secured to the body
with a strap and that serves as a flotation aid to assist the lifeguard in performing a
rescue
✔✔Resuscitation mask - ✔✔A pliable, dome-shaped device that fits over a person's
mouth and nose; used to assist with rescue breathing.
✔✔Rip current - ✔✔A channel of water flowing away from and perpendicular to shore.
Rip currents are hazardous for all swimmers. A swimmer can escape a rip current by
swimming in a direction parallel to the shore
✔✔Scanning - ✔✔System of visual observation in which a lifeguard performs
systematic visual sweeps of facility
✔✔Shallow water - ✔✔Measurement of water depth, based on swimmer's height
✔✔River current - ✔✔Seaward flow of water river. Victim may diagonally swim across.
✔✔Suddenly cardiac arrest - ✔✔The abrupt stopping of the pumping action of the heart
