An Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is a facility's pre-written script for emergencies: who signals, who rescues, who covers the vacated zone, who calls emergency services, who meets responders, and who manages bystanders. Because a water emergency unfolds in seconds, the EAP replaces improvisation with rehearsed roles — a single whistle signal can set the entire staff in motion. EAPs cover multiple scenarios including water rescue, suspected spinal injury, missing person, and severe weather, and they are practiced in regular in-service drills. Every lifeguard must know the EAP before their first shift. Calling emergency services is a defined step in nearly every EAP branch, never an afterthought.
This video explains what belongs in an aquatic facility's Emergency Action Plan: response procedures for drowning, medical emergencies, weather, lost children, and other incidents, plus the ongoing d…