Recreation Assistant

Summary

These positions are located in Indiana Dunes National Park. For more information about location or position, contact: zachary_moreno@nps.gov. Anticipated Entry on Duty: 5/19/2024

Duties

Perform lifeguard services during assigned tours of duty, accomplishing search and rescue, lifesaving, and preventive life guarding. Provides information on park regulations to the public. Patrols beach areas on foot advising visitors of hazardous lake and swimming conditions. Advises supervisor of safety problems and assists in the operation of the First Aid and Lifeguard Services Center, as requested. Prepares rescue reports and maintains records, as necessary. Performs other park support duties (such as festival assistance, garbage pick-up, and inventories), as weather conditions and/or workload requirements dictate. Position requires wearing the full assigned uniform and operation of an all-terrain vehicle.

Area Information
Government Housing NOT available.
Indiana Dunes National Park is a 15,000-acre park located at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, approximately 45 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois. The park is among the top 10 most visited National Park units annually. Small towns and resort communities on the beaches of Lake Michigan, and farms, interspersed with large tracts of woodlands and wetlands, surround the park. All services are available in the communities, to include schools, colleges, shopping, and other major amenities. The park hugs 15 miles of Lake Michigan's southern shoreline, and includes several historic districts, and over 50 miles of horse, bike and hiking trails over rugged dunes, mysterious wetlands, sunny prairies, meandering rivers, and peaceful forests The park also surrounds the 2,000-acre Indiana Dunes State Park, and a large residential environmental education center. The Park is the birthplace of the science of ecology and has one of the most diverse plant communities in the National Park Service system. The park further supports several geographically dispersed units within the park. The area has weather typical of the Midwest with temperatures normally ranging from 0 degrees in the winter to 90 degrees in the summer. No government housing available, however, many reasonably priced houses and rental properties exist in the surrounding communities.

Physical Demands: Requires standing, walking, running, lifting, and carrying heavy items over hazardous sands and rough terrain during periods of environmental and psychological stress. Strenuous exertion under severe environmental conditions is required in search, rescue, recover, and boat operations. Some assignments are sedentary. May be required to meet/maintain park administered tests (or equivalent); 1. Swim 500 yards in 10 minutes or less; 2. Recover a 10-pound weight from 12 feet of water; 3. Swim 25 yards under water with one breath; 4. Successfully demonstrate proper water rescue techniques; and 5. Demonstrate proper techniques for handling neck and back injuries.

Working Conditions: Work is performed indoors and outdoors, the majority being outside and possibly subjected to extreme weather and/or terrain. Search, rescue, recovery, and ATV/UTV operations require exposure to potentially dangerous conditions.

---