Real-Life Math
Lifeguards work hard to keep swimmers in beaches and pools safe.
Their
job involves cautioning people, administering first aid when required, maintaining
a safe swimming environment and, when called upon, rescuing someone. "A lot
of what lifeguards do is public relations," notes Glenn Schultz, a municipal
lifeguard supervisor.
Lifeguards need to be outgoing, good at motivating
people and sensitive to the needs of others. The ability to swim, good health
and physical fitness are required. Willingness to accept responsibility and
the ability to exercise good judgment are also important qualities.
In
order to keep their skills sharp, lifeguards often compete against each other
in first aid competitions, says Schultz. Most often, it's in such competitions
that lifeguards put their math skills to use. They might also use math to
figure out the number of gallons of water in a pool (though this is rare),
or determine rankings in a timed swim.
In lifeguard competitions, teams
or individuals compete against each other in a series of contests. The individual
competitions are designed to test various skills, including:
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
- The "priority action approach," in which a team of lifeguards is given
90 seconds to give initial treatment to 9 injured people
- Pool first aid, in which a team has 8 to 10 minutes to give in-depth treatment
to several "injured" people in the pool
- Dry land first aid -- same as pool first aid, except on dry land
You're a member of a 3-person lifeguard team that's competing in
the annual Ironguard Lifeguard Competition. This year's events include:
- A CPR skills component worth 5 percent
- Priority action approach worth 15 percent
- Pool first aid worth 50 percent
- Dry land first aid worth 30 percent
Each event has its own score. Your team scored 135/150 for the CPR
skills contest, 190/200 for the priority action approach, 225/250 for the
pool first aid and 150/200 for the dry land first aid component.
You
think your team did pretty well, but you'd really like to know how your team
stacked up against the 5 others competing in this year's contest. Here's how
the other results looked:
The team from Omak scored 85.75/100
The
team from Twisp scored 81.50/100
The team from Clarinda scored 75/100
The
team from Watertown scored 83.65/100
How did your team
rank?