Summertime Learning at Junior Lifeguard Camp

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Summer 2023 may be wrapping up, but these junior lifeguards will keep the skills they learned with them forever.

Returning camper, Junior Lifeguard Mikayla Bornstein said, “So we’ve just learned how to go out and save people and we learn about the rip currents and the flags and stuff like that.”

The Panama City Beach’s Parks and Recreation Department’s Junior Lifeguard Camps featured two age groups ranging from 9 to 12 and 13 to 16.

Campers were put to the test through fun exercises involving running and swimming, but the main goal remains beach safety.

Beach Safety Director for Panama City Beach, Daryl Paul, said, “We are not only out here doing mock rescues like conscious and unconscious victims, but we are really teaching them about water safety. Teaching them about rip currents how lifeguards use rip currents in like a rescue situation, really how to survive them and use them appropriately.”

Campers focused on everything a lifeguard would need to know including the flag systems, the importance of CPR, high quality chest compressions, and how to call 911 right away.

It’s just not any camp. It takes focus and determination, but these campers keep returning each summer with plans to become certified lifeguards.

Bornstein said, “Yes, as soon as I turn 18.”

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