Bill Text: NJ A1638 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-01-13 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A1638 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A1638-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman SEAN T. KEAN
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning open water lifeguards and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Open Water Lifeguard Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Open water lifeguards perform an essential public safety function by protecting countless lives from death or serious injury, and they routinely do so at great risk to their own lives.
b. Many open water lifeguards are cross-trained in emergency medical response, marine fire safety, law enforcement support, and water rescue craft operations, enabling them to respond effectively to a broad range of emergencies.
c. Open water lifeguards respond and attend to victims, treat victims, assist victims, and transport victims, the four defined duties of an emergency response employee.
d. Open water lifeguards not only protect life, but also property, evidence, and the environment, the four tenants which define a first responder.
e. Current federal law, without exception, allows open water lifeguards to qualify as first responders and emergency response providers.
f. Accordingly, it is altogether fitting and proper to recognize open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
3. Any person who is employed as an open water lifeguard in this State shall hereinafter be referred to as a first responder and an emergency response provider.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers. Under the bill, any person who is employed as an open water lifeguard in this State is to be referred to as a first responder and an emergency response provider.
Open water lifeguards perform an essential public safety function by protecting countless lives from death or serious injury, and they routinely do so at great risk to their own lives. It is the intent of the sponsor to recognize the essential, lifesaving work performed by open water lifeguards.
