The National Aquatic Safety Company’s (NASCO) mission is: “To Reduce the Loss of Life Due to Drowning”. In order to further our mission, the NASCO Lifeguard Textbook is available as a free download subject to the following caveats: (1) the textbook remains the copyrighted property of NASCO, (2) any use of the contents must reference NASCO as the source, (3) the material may only be used as the primary lifeguard text in a NASCO certified lifeguard course embedded in the NASCO Risk Management Program, and (4) NASCO does not endorse or recognize any certification program other than those which utilize the NASCO Risk Management Program.
NASCO believes lifeguard-training organizations have a responsibility to their students and to the public that includes practice in the water and on the deck of the necessary skills to safeguard the public under the guidance of an instructor and testing over the mastery of the required practical skills in the water. A lifeguard program that teaches it students in a web-based environment and not in the water would not fulfill these responsibilities.
Please note that the Lifeguard Textbook is subject to change as new research and information becomes available. It is set up to be printed on both sides of paper, so the margins are different on alternate pages.
Click on heading below to download the 2022 NASCO Lifeguard Textbook.
The 2022 NASCO Instructor Manuals are available. Click here for NASCO Instructor Materials.
Click on headings below to download NASCO Safety Bulletins.
Protect yourself from the sun.
Potential danger to people with breathing problems by swimming in heavily chlorinated pool.
Drowning dangers associated with unprotected and/or decorative founds and ponds.
Bacterial contamination of places you may not think are contaminated.