Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue opens lifeguard applications

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Applications to become a lifeguard with Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue (JBOR) are now open.

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The agency is looking for strong swimmers with strong stamina to join its team.

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Last year JBOR responded to more than 4,000 calls for service.

Action News Jax spoke with Lt. Maxwell Ervanian, the training and operations officer with JBOR.

“We’re a very elite group,” Ervanian said. “We have people from all over the United States reaching out to us and actually coming and visiting us to see how we handle ocean rescue lifeguarding.”

Ervanian has been with the team since he was 16.

Trainees will go through extensive paid training in order to become an Ocean Rescue Lifeguard.

“We handle anything that happens on the beach or in the waters within the Jacksonville Beach area, including the intercoastal waterways,” Ervanian said.

JBOR is the only year-round Ocean Rescue Lifeguard Agency in Duval County in Northeast Florida that’s not a part of the fire department.

Read: Jacksonville Beach ends partnership with volunteer lifeguard organization

The starting salary for an Ocean Rescue Lifeguard is $16.13 an hour with yearly step-raises.

The starting salary for an Ocean Rescue Lifeguard/emt is $19.04 an hour with yearly step-raises.

“We’re always looking for new applicants to join our team to see if they have what it takes,” Ervanian said.

The year-round agency has lifeguard towers on the beach typically between the months of March and October -- with the remaining months staffed on a patrol basis.

There are part-time and full-time opportunities.

“We have numerous amounts of training opportunities once you even become a part of this organization,” Ervanian said. “So the lifeguard Academy is like the minimum standards that you need to become a lifeguard. As you continue with us, we’ll put you through a series of professional growth and development training programs that allow you to take your skills to the next level -- whether you want to become a supervisor or become a response officer or become a rescue watercraft operator. There are numerous different regional training opportunities that we have right here in Jacksonville Beach that no other life or agency has.”

The first pre-qualification exam day for entrance into the Lifeguard Academy will be in March 11.

Applications will be open through the end of May and will be accepted on a rolling basis.

You need to be at least 16 years old to apply.

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CLICK HERE to apply and to learn more about the requirements.