It is the mission of the American Red Cross to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow brought this philosophy to aquatics in 1914 when he started the American Red Cross Life Saving Corps. This program was the first of its kind, and it contributed to a dramatic reduction in the number of lives lost as a result of drowning. Since 1914, the Red Cross has continued to expand upon Commodore Longfellow's early lifesaving innovations. Today's American Red Cross Lifeguarding program consists of courses, products and services that thoroughly train individuals to meet the mission of the Red Cross and to save lives.

Lifeguarding
American Red Cross Lifeguarding offers the highest quality training standards in skill instruction, professional lifeguard responsibilities, first aid and CPR/AED training. It consists of four stand-alone, courses to teaches surveillance and rescue skills for a specific water environment, including:

• Lifeguarding – for facilities with traditional pools
• Waterfront Lifeguarding – for facilities with non-surf, open-water environments such as lakes and rivers, as well as traditional pools
• Waterpark Lifeguarding – for waterpark environments, multi-attraction facilities and traditional pools
• Shallow Water Attendant – for facilities with shallow water attractions up to 4 feet deep such as catch basins at the foot of slides, winding rivers and kiddie pools

Also under the Lifeguarding umbrella are:

• GuardStart: Lifeguarding Tomorrow
  GuardStart: Lifeguarding Tomorrow is a program for 11-14 year-olds that provides a foundation of aquatic and leadership knowledge, attitudes, and skills for future successful completion of an American Red Cross Lifeguarding course.
  The GuardStart curriculum contains multiple units in five categories (prevention, fitness, response, leadership, professionalism), with the entire program totaling fifty lessons. GuardStart is designed to be flexible, including the length of the course and the order of the lessons. There is no instructor authorization required to lead the GuardStart program. It is led by program and activity leaders.
• Lifeguard Management
  Lifeguard Management is designed to teach aquatic managers and lifeguard supervisors how to effectively manage lifeguards and keep patrons, lifeguards and facilities safe. The course, which is approximately 7¼ hours in length, includes information on the selection and training of lifeguards, management topics, record and report templates and nearly 100 in-service training outlines.