{"id":15822,"date":"2015-04-30T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T12:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15822"},"modified":"2015-04-30T09:00:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T13:00:57","slug":"spring-brings-a-focus-on-water-safety-kennett-y-leads-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15822","title":{"rendered":"Spring brings a focus on water safety: Kennett ‘Y’ leads the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kennett Area YMCA guards receive Gold award<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Kim Chiomento<\/strong><\/span>, News Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Spring is finally making its arrival; and for many area residents that means increased time spent near lakes, pools and other recreational facilities where water is a big part of the fun. These activities also raise the level of awareness placed on children, and adults alike, to be water safety smart; and to know the basics of how to save themselves if\u00a0they are in harm’s way.<\/p>\n

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Greater Brandywine Y’s Chase Darden – Challenging his team to “Be the best at what they do.”<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to personal awareness and training, many count on area life guards as the next step in their protection. How knowledgeable and prepared are the life guards where you and your family are spending time?<\/p>\n

For members of the Kennett Area YMCA, the answer is easily found. The Kennett\u00a0Y proudly announced that its lifeguard team, under the direction of Chase Darden, Assistant Director of Aquatics – Brandywine YMCA, was awarded the prestigious Gold International Safety Award by Ellis & Associates.<\/p>\n

Ellis & Associates\u00a0lifeguard program is widely recognized as the aquatics industry safety leader; with an international client base of water parks and other aquatic venues.<\/p>\n

For members of the Y who\u00a0have experienced the thoroughness of its guards, the gold rating may not come as a great surprise.\u00a0But,\u00a0what\u00a0may be news, are the rigorous standards\u00a0it guards are held to\u00a0in order to achieve this status. Gold rating\u00a0only occurs after\u00a0consistently exceeding<\/em> expectations of the safety criteria throughout the course of each year.<\/p>\n

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Members of Kennett Y’s aquatics team: (from left) Kate Bolten, Omar Shakhshiro, and Steven Stewart responding to a simulated emergency.<\/p><\/div>\n

Part of the process of\u00a0earning the gold rating included unannounced visits from Ellis & Associates to evaluate and document exactly how the guards are monitoring the pools. Resources used to do so included hidden cameras recording\u00a0guard scanning, behavior and safety protocol. After recording, Ellis & Associates makes their presence known in the facility and guards are then also taped responding to a simulated emergency situation, evaluated on their professional knowledge and response time.<\/p>\n

In 2015, the Kennett Area Y\u2019s lifeguards received a highly regarded silver rating, \u201cAt our Y, we are intentional about always trying to make things better. Last year, I challenged my staff team to not only be better, but to be the best at what they do,\u201d says Darden, \u201cEarning the Gold Award is how they responded; which is a remarkable achievement and makes me proud to be a part of such a great group.\u201d<\/p>\n

With so many members of the community using the Ys indoor and outdoor facilities, this ranking brings additional credibility to an already\u00a0highly regarded institution. \u201cThe most important aspect is that our members and guests can have the utmost confidence in our lifeguard staff and peace of mind that when they are in our facilities, they are always in a safe environment,\u201d says Darden, \u201cThis is especially significant to those with families in our programs and to those with health concerns or special needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community outreach is core component of the YMCA\u2019s mission. The Kennett Y offers a community summer SPLASH Week, during which, youth of all ages are taught the fundamental and potentially life-saving skills of back floats and proper kicking.<\/p>\n

This year, the Kennett Consolidated School District is partnering with the Kennett Y to offer every 2nd grade student in the district swim lessons during May and June. This program will fall under the Y\u2019s school year SPLASH program. Darden notes, \u201cDrowning is a leading cause of death among young children; this opportunity to teach them at an early age can make an impact that lasts a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kennett Y and its affiliate network, the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, offers swim lessons for all ages and abilities and basic CPR classes. Additionally, for those wishing to become certified lifeguards classes are offered monthly that teach lifeguarding skills, CPR, AED, Oxygen, First Aid and as a part of their studies, students will also experience simulated emergencies and how to respond to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that our community knows that they can count on the Y and our staff to provide the best experience possible, and feeling safe and secure is a large part of that,\u201d says Darden. To learn more about your YMCA\u2019s various aquatics programs, visit: www.ymcabwv.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kennett Area YMCA guards receive Gold award By Kim Chiomento, News Editor, The Times KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Spring is finally making its arrival; and for many area residents that means increased time spent near lakes, pools and other recreational facilities where water is a big part of the fun. These activities also raise the level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":15848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,25,4],"tags":[6136,1183,581,6137,4805],"class_list":["post-15822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-community","category-featured","tag-aquatics","tag-kennett-area-ymca","tag-kennett-consolidated-school-district","tag-water-safety","tag-ymca-of-greater-brandywine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15822"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15865,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15822\/revisions\/15865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}