The YMCA of Bucks and Hunterdon Counties is big on instruction. Its staff members routinely guide members through exercise classwork, individual equipment training, and healthy lifestyle education. But it also offers content from the American Red Cross, providing the public with potentially lifesaving information.

The curricula’s mainstays are general information in how to respond to emergency situations. In this category, the Y provides, practical, usable training on how to be a babysitter (including rehearsing the technique of pediatric CPR) and adult/pediatric first aid.

In its more formal offerings, the Y can help locals attain a lifeguard certification or a lifeguard trainer certification.

The lifeguard skill-building coursework targets participants who are over the age of 15. Its prerequisites comprise demonstrated abilities to:

• Swim 300 yards continuously using a variety of strokes
• Tread water for two minutes without the use of hands
• Complete a timed “rescue” of a 10-lb. object from a depth of 7–10 feet

Red Cross Lifeguard certifications are valid for two years after they are earned. When they expire, the Y also provides the training for renewals.

The babysitting/CPR/lifeguard curricula is available at all Bucks County YMCA locations. There is a separate charge — atop membership fees — for the classwork.

More information on the American Red Cross education offerings by the YMCA of Bucks and Hunterdon Counties is online.