| Aims & Activities The Lifesaving Society is Canada's lifeguarding expert. The Society certifies the country's lifeguards, and works to prevent drowning and water-related injuries by providing Canadians with the water safety education and lifesaving skills they need to be their own lifeguards. Training Program Education In Canada, over 200,000 people train in the Society's lifesaving, lifeguarding and leadership programs every year. Through the Society's progressive program of training awards, participants develop personal swim and survival skills together with water rescue and resuscitation knowledge. The Society's National Lifeguard certification is the standard for professional lifeguards in Canada. The Society's Instructors, Examiners and Trainers provide the leadership for lifesaving and lifeguarding programs in communities throughout the country. Public Education The Society works to prevent drowning by making all Canadians "Water Smart�". Based on its research into drownings and catastrophic water-related injuries, the Society prepares and delivers Water Smart� messages to participants in high-risk activities through media, community action, special programs and promotions. National and International Liaison The Society operates in every province in Canada and in over 50 countries throughout the world. The Lifesaving Society represents Canadian lifesavers and lifeguards internationally. The Society is an active member of the Royal Life Saving Society and the International Life Saving Federation. Origin & Development of the Society Swimming was very popular in the United Kingdom and Europe during the 1880's. Many clubs were actively teaching swimming. Some swimmers made a good living as professional racers and by exhibiting their skills. However, very little attention was paid to the development or instruction of lifesaving with the result that drowning was a common form of death. William Henry was a renowned English and European swimming champion throughout the 1880's and 1890's. He won the World Life Saving Championship in Paris in 1890 In 1887, the Royal Humane Society was approached by William Henry, a talented swimmer, and asked to undertake water rescue instruction using its own organization and staff. There was little interest in the proposal, but he and his friend Archibald Sinclair followed it up with a letter, setting forth a scheme for forming classes of instruction in the most approved methods of lifesaving. Henry and Sinclair then approached the Amateur Swimming Association. On 11 May, 1889 a ASA committee formed for the purpose recommended that a central committee of seven should be appointed, that classes should be held, local arrangements being made by local swimming clubs, and that lecturers should be provided by the committee. Demonstrations of restoring the apparently drowned would be carried out, and that societies and schools would be brought into the scheme. After the committee reported, nothing further was done. Nevertheless, Henry and Sinclair were not deterred and on January 3, 1891, there was a meeting at Anderton's Hotel in London, England, of seven persons interested in everything that pertained to swimming. This was the nucleus of the worldwide organization that was soon to be the pre-eminent lifesaving society. Recognizing the need to develop and teach lifesaving, William Henry approached the Royal Humane Society to develop a lifesaving program. On January 3, 1891, a founding meeting of 60 people was held to create an organization to address this concern. A committee of 12 lead by William Henry and Archibald Sinclair was appointed to create the rules for the "Swimmers Life Saving Society" The Society's name was later changed to the "Life Saving Society" The first lecture sponsored by the new Life Saving Society was delivered on 25 May 1891 by the famous doctor Sir Andrew Clark, personal physician to the Prime Minister, William Gladstone. The techniques for resuscitation skills were adapted from the program of the Royal Humane Society. The lifesaving skills and instruction methods had to be developed from scratch. A common teaching method of the 1890's was based on drills, many of which were demonstrated and practiced on land. The first handbook of drills was developed by William Wilson with Sir Andrew Clark and Dr. W. Collingridge. William Henry died on March 20, 1928 after almost 40 years dedicated to the development of lifesaving. The "Swimmers' Life Saving Society" was formed in London, England in 1891 by William Henry, Archibald Sinclair, H. Hewitt Griffin, F.W. Moses, E.W. Stafford, W. Brickett, C. Val Hunter. A committee of 12 - all swimmers - was appointed to draw up rules. The Society's purpose was to give training in water rescue techniques and reduce the number of drownings prevalent in the United Kingdom. The Society flourished in the United Kingdom and, in 1904 by command of King Edward VII, it became styled the "Royal Life Saving Society" with His Majesty as Patron, although no Royal Charter was issued until 1924 by King George V. In 1894, Arthur Lewis Cochrane, who had emigrated from England, was made the Society's Honorary Representative in Canada. Through Cochrane's efforts, the Ontario Branch of the Society was established in 1908. The formation of the Quebec Branch followed in 1909 and Branches were formed in other provinces soon afterwards. By the end of World War II, the Society's volunteer leaders in Canada saw the need for an organization which could be national in scope and which could adapt the training and awards of the Society to Canadian needs. A license issued in 1947 by the London, England based Society authorized the formation of a Canadian Council of Branches. Similar licenses had been granted previously to Australia and New Zealand. In Canada, the governor-general agreed to become the national Patron of the Canadian Council of Branches. In 1960, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II granted a Supplementary Royal Charter which provided for reorganization of the Society to be headed by a Commonwealth Council with National Branches in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. In Canada, the Society became officially designated "The Royal Life Saving Society Canada." Within two years a complete reorganization and a new constitution for the Canadian Society was adopted under the guidance of the late H.E. Hershorn, O.B.E., and the Honorable George A. Drew. From this point on, National Technical meetings were initiated bringing together national officers, representatives from the provincial branches and delegates from the national affiliates - Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP. Significant Events As early as 1896, the first formal lifesaving classes were taught by A.L. Cochrane, "Honorary Instructor," at Upper Canada College in Toronto, Ontario. Eighteen students were awarded the Bronze Medallion, the first recorded Bronze Medallions earned in Canada. A.L. Cochrane, founder of the first private boys camp in Canada, Camp Temagami, became the second President of the Ontario Branch in 1919. He succeeded Arnold Morphy, who was the Bursar at Upper Canada College. The Society's work was given great impetus when in 1903, the Toronto Central YMCA adopted lifesaving classes, due to the efforts of its enthusiastic physical director, John Howard Crocker. Crocker, a well-known figure in the history of Canadian recreation and Olympic sport, conducted lifesaving classes and passed examinations for the Society. In 1935 he became the third President of the Ontario Branch. The Royal Life Saving Society demonstrated its early leadership in giving aquatic direction to other organizations in 1945, when its members helped form the Canadian Red Cross Water Safety Service. This was the beginning of the water safety program of the Canadian Red Cross Society, which was designed to teach youth the fundamentals of water safety and basic swimming skills, and intended to complement the opportunities provided by the Royal Life Saving Society. In the middle of this century, the Canadian Society began working towards a "made-in-Canada" awards scheme tailored for the reality of Canadian aquatic environments. After the reorganization of the Commonwealth Society and the Supplementary Charter granted by the Queen, the Society's awards programs and standards have been determined exclusively by the RLSSC. Commonwealth Conferences and international technical meetings continue to provide forums for sharing and learning among RLSS colleagues. If the 1950s was the decade of made at home awards programs, the 1960s and 70s will be remembered for the development and expansion of a sophisticated leadership training scheme including formalized instructor training courses and the creation of specialized lifeguarding training which continues to set the standard for lifeguarding today - the National Lifeguard Service program. The 1980s will likely be remembered for the Society's comprehensive research into drownings and water-related injuries and the launching of major public education activities under the Water Smart� Campaign banner. Also - the revamping of the leadership system, and the successful implementation of community-based delivery of leadership training courses. Development of Lifesaving Awards and Methods Lifesaving awards and methods have developed significantly since the Society's inception over 100 years ago. The most widely known Bronze Medallion Award was instituted as early as 1892 in England. The examination fee for the Bronze was set at 75 cents in 1908. Since that time there have been continual additions, changes and skill requirements in the program. Today the Society administers 13 different award programs ranging from water rescue and resuscitation to specialized aquatic activities and leadership awards. The Society has demonstrated its leadership in lifesaving techniques by continuously researching and adopting new and more efficient methods of artificial respiration. The earliest "Schafer Method" of 1907 was replaced by the "Holger Neilson Method" in 1952. Seven years later, the Direct Method ("mouth-to-mouth") or Rescue Breathing was adopted. Today, participants in the Society's program learn airway obstruction techniques and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Affiliations & Work with other Agencies The RLSSC gained much of its early strength through endorsement by established organizations in the country. The Central YMCA (Toronto) gave the Society its first impetus when it adopted its lifesaving swimming programs in 1903. Since then, organizations to be named National Affiliates included the Boy Scouts Association (1910); The Canadian Armed Forces (1962); the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1962); the National Council of YMCAs (1973); the Canadian Red Cross Society (1975); St. John Ambulance (1981), and most recently Swimming/Natation Canada (1982). In addition, the Society works closely with other organizations and partners in pursuit of Water Smart� public education. Associate Members of the Water Smart� Campaign include: the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons, Canadian Safe Boating Council, Canadian Watercraft Training Centre, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, Ontario Medical Association, Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and SportSmart Canada. Most recently the Lifesaving Society welcomes TYR Sport as a major partner in drowning prevention. |
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| Qumcunque Miserum Videris Hominem Scias Whomsover you see in distress, recognize in him a fellow man. Motto of the Life Saving Society |
| History of the Lifesaving Society |