A brief opening ceremony was held at the Jessups Community Center on Tuesday 11th July, which officially signaled the commencement of a one-week training exercise in a Lifeguard and first aid certification course.
This is the second edition, as a similar course was conducted last year.
On hand were: Jeff Dudley-President of the World Academy of Safety and Health (WASH); his Vice President-Elisabeth Tisdale, Brandon Bond and his brother Bryce Bond-both Lifeguard instructors.
Also present were Chief Julius of St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard and Terri Andrews of SWIM TO WIN, which is the main organizing force in coordinating the course.
The ceremony was chaired by Mr. Jamir Claxton, Director of Sports and he gave a warm welcome to the participants, pointing out the significance of the training exercise, especially bearing in mind, the history of water-related tragedy within the waters of the federation.
Mr. Dudley thanked all of the agencies and individuals who teamed up to make the course possible and stated that one of the major objectives of the course would be to have at least three Lifeguard instructors certified.
Chief Julius indicated that last year, two members of the Coast Guard participated in the course, but this year the number has risen to twelve.
Ms. Terri Andrews of SWIM TO WIN congratulated the participants for registering for the course and thanked the facilitators for once again accepting to conduct the training sessions.
During the course of the week, the participants will have intense indoor sessions and sessions in the open waters at Yachtsman’s Beach.
The course is expected to climax on Friday 14th July.