By: Christopher Quinn, Communications Volunteer

Sixteen-year-old Jake Verlander didn’t have to stop and think about what to do when he noticed a younger swim team member make a turn off the pool wall and then just stop face-down last spring.

The younger swimmer and two teammates had been swimming as far as they could on a single breath as Verlander walked beside them on the pool platform. The youngster in trouble apparently had tried too hard to get just a little further.

“Right as he pushed off the wall, I knew something was wrong,” Verlander said.

His American Red Cross training, completed just two weeks earlier, kicked in, and Verlander jumped into the pool, turned the boy over and got him to the nearest wall, where fellow assistant coaches helped lift the boy out.

“I could hear a deep gurgling in his mouth,” Verlander said. As the 11-year-old began coughing and clearing his lungs, Verlander pulled himself out of the water, grabbed a towel and had to sit to calm down. Then, he had time to think about what had just happened.

“It was the scariest minute of my life,” he said. “I didn’t want anything bad to happen.”

But he was ready for it thanks to his Red Cross Lifeguard and Water Safety training.

Verlander was awarded a Red Cross Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders in August during the annual end-of-season banquet for the Druid Hills Golf Club swim team. It is the highest award given by the Red Cross to individuals or groups who save or sustain a life, outside of a medical setting, while on duty and with an obligation to respond using skills learned in a Red Cross Training Services course. Members of the 247-strong team and their families rose to give him a standing ovation as Terri Badour, the executive director at the American Red Cross in Atlanta, handed him the certificate and lapel pin that recognizes Verlander as one of the select few who has saved a life this year.

Robyn Whittemore, his lifesaving instructor, wrote in her nomination that “his reaction time was absolutely incredible. Because of his actions, the victim was able to be revived almost instantly, and (after follow-up care from his doctors), felt comfortable enough to return to practice just four short days later.”

Whittemore, who also is the youth and aquatics director at the golf club, said before the ceremony: “As much as I hate that Jake was in that position, that was why I trained him.”

Red Cross certified lifeguards are the “first line of defense” against accidental deaths in the water, she said.

“He has a lot to be proud of.”

The Red Cross also surprised Whittemore with an award for her work in training many young swimmers in water safety.

The American Red Cross is a national leader in emergency response training and trains more than 300,000 people a year in aquatics lifeguarding. Its programs are reviewed regularly by experts to keep them up to date.

Ten people a day die from drowning in the U.S., and two of those will be children, on average. For every child who dies, another five receive nonfatal emergency care after submersion. Drowning is the second-leading cause of death for children ages one to four, behind only birth defects, according to information collected by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross provides lifesaving training in a number of areas for individuals, businesses and other organizations – from first aid, to cardio-pulmonary resuscitation to the use of a defibrillator for those suffering from a heart attack.

Verlander, a little wiser after earning his water safety certification and his experience, understands how quickly a bad event can transpire. It can happen at a pool, lake, backyard pool or public park, he said.

Had he not been ready, “It would be a world of hurt,” he said.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds, and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on Twitter at @RedCross.