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Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

spotthedrowningchild.com

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Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#31

Post by Hamuko »

watwut wrote: post #28
undineine wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

European pools generally ask under children under 14 or so who go swimming unattended whether they have swimming diplomas. If you complete your swimming diplomas, you get stickers for your swim shorts to show you have completed them. Generally certain rides in water parks, like fast slides or streams will require you to have higher levels of swimming training to go on if you're under 14.

I live in Europe and never seen this.

I live in Europe and while we did have some kind of stickers for attending swimming school, I don't think those were something that you'd actual have on you.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#32

Post by tnorthcutt »

Hamuko wrote: post #27
chrismeller wrote: post #5

All in all after watching several of their videos I feel like I do a good job of recognizing the drowning person, but I’m amazed at how quickly the lifeguards spot it and dive into action. Even knowing that in this short clip there is absolutely someone drowning I still have doubt, but the lifeguard who doesn’t have that context is already half way to the person by the time I’m sure.

How long of a shift do lifeguards even have? Because I wouldn't feel confident in being able to observe a bunch of people in a pool for hours for what are quite subtle clues.

The lifeguards at my local (city) pool rotate very frequently; I’d say every 15 minutes or so. Their shift is longer of course, but they aren’t sitting observing for more than around 15 minutes at a time.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#33

Post by Waterluvian »

Hamuko wrote: post #27
chrismeller wrote: post #5

All in all after watching several of their videos I feel like I do a good job of recognizing the drowning person, but I’m amazed at how quickly the lifeguards spot it and dive into action. Even knowing that in this short clip there is absolutely someone drowning I still have doubt, but the lifeguard who doesn’t have that context is already half way to the person by the time I’m sure.

How long of a shift do lifeguards even have? Because I wouldn't feel confident in being able to observe a bunch of people in a pool for hours for what are quite subtle clues.

Not sure this is indicative but at my local pool you can see them switching up between active duty and idling nearby in the hut about every 15 mins.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#34

Post by dahfizz »

Hamuko wrote: post #27
chrismeller wrote: post #5

All in all after watching several of their videos I feel like I do a good job of recognizing the drowning person, but I’m amazed at how quickly the lifeguards spot it and dive into action. Even knowing that in this short clip there is absolutely someone drowning I still have doubt, but the lifeguard who doesn’t have that context is already half way to the person by the time I’m sure.

How long of a shift do lifeguards even have? Because I wouldn't feel confident in being able to observe a bunch of people in a pool for hours for what are quite subtle clues.

I was a lifeguard at the YMCA, and we would never be on duty for more than 45 minutes at a time unless we were short staffed. You were constantly rotating and given short breaks or small tasks to keep sharp.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#35

Post by Vinnl »

rendall wrote: post #6

Something in the embed code prevents the "allow full screen" from working properly, so the video is tiny and scrunched up into the upper left hand corner. When I watched this on YouTube, with full screen enabled, I spotted the poor little fellow within about 5 seconds. This is using the latest chrome (v80.0.3987.132) This worked, though:

The reason for this, I think, is that the idea is that you click on the drowning person when you see it. They're probably assuming dimensions in able to correlate your click with their actual position.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#36

Post by minimonk »

One of the important lessons I learnt from a lifeguard is that movies depict a very inaccurate representation of drowning. The movies would have you believe that drowning is a violent and noisy event when in reality it is an inconspicuous and silent event. The victim cannot shout or call for help when they are struggling to keep their nose above the water level.

Another important lesson I learnt that sometimes when someone is rescued from drowning, they are at the risk of secondary drowning which can occur during sleep after the accident. Especially, if a child looks very weak and tired after a drowning accident, it is important to keep the child under medical care for the next 24 hours. Never take the risk of the taking the child back home in such a case.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#37

Post by saagarjha »

w-m wrote: post #16

The first one I got was #26 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuAfTA2wf7o ) and I find it quite hard to detect. Just next to the drowning child, there are a few others splashing around, which looks nearly identical. Could a machine make the distinction reliably? Also interesting to note that there are many people really close by who do not notice the drowning, but spring into action to help once the lifeguard jumped.

The things that gave it away for me are the head being really close to the waterline and desperate-looking, rapid flapping by the arms to try to stay above the water. Disclaimer: not a lifeguard, this might not actually be valid.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#39

Post by 0xBA5ED »

chrismeller wrote: post #5

All in all after watching several of their videos I feel like I do a good job of recognizing the drowning person, but I’m amazed at how quickly the lifeguards spot it and dive into action. Even knowing that in this short clip there is absolutely someone drowning I still have doubt, but the lifeguard who doesn’t have that context is already half way to the person by the time I’m sure.

Of course the lifeguard has extra context by just being in the same space with these people beforehand. They're probably already watching certain people more closely before the video starts while you and I enter the space cold (and through a fixed window).

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#40

Post by JshWright »

chrismeller wrote: post #5

All in all after watching several of their videos I feel like I do a good job of recognizing the drowning person, but I’m amazed at how quickly the lifeguards spot it and dive into action. Even knowing that in this short clip there is absolutely someone drowning I still have doubt, but the lifeguard who doesn’t have that context is already half way to the person by the time I’m sure.

The guards actually have a lot more context. They have been watching the people in the pool and have mentally sorted them by how much attention they need.

They have also been staring at the same pool for hours and their brain is ignoring all the visual noise that is distracting you. They also have the benefit of stereo vision and sound.

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