Guwahati, June 4: Want to save people from drowning? Get trained as a lifeguard and you will be saving many lives.

The Guwahati branch of the Institute of Professional Lifeguard is conducting a 12-day training course on Life Guard and First Aid at the Zakir Hussain Aquatic Complex in the Sarusajai Sports Complex in the city from May 27 to June 7. About 14 individuals, comprising professionals as well as students, are currently being trained in this programme.

The importance of trained lifeguards has always been felt as many people had lost their lives by drowning. Several instances of drowning have taken place in the Brahmaputra that runs through the city.

“We are offering training on lifeguard and first aid as we want to make our society safer. Many times a person who does not know how to swim may accidentally fall into a waterbody and drown. Bystanders fail to save him mainly because they are not trained to rescue him. In such times, the role of a lifeguard is of vital importance as he or she is trained and knows the techniques to rescue a drowning person. Moreover, it is also necessary to know what first aid to administer to a person soon after his rescue,” the director of the institute, Sanjeev Sharma, said.

“While individuals who know how to swim are being trained on how to be a lifeguard, those who do not know swimming are being trained on the kind of first aid that needs to be administered to a person who has been rescued from a waterbody. The participants include school and college students, professionals as well as coaches from different schools. The coaches can later pass on what they have learnt here to their students,” said Naba Rai Choudhury, a trainer at the institute.

The organisers also claim that training on being a lifeguard can open up avenues of employment for youths of this region.

“These days many organisations recruit lifeguards. Once the participants complete the course, they will be qualified and can apply for a job as lifeguards in the Northeast as well as in other states of the country. We had conducted similar training in Tripura and several of the participants have been able to secure jobs as professional lifeguards in Delhi,” Sharma said.