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Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

spotthedrowningchild.com

171–180 of 424 posts

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#171
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Secondary drowning" is another term people use to describe another drowning complication. It happens if water gets into the lungs. There, it can irritate the lungs’ lining and fluid can build up, causing a condition called pulmonary edema. You’d likely notice your child having trouble breathing right away, and it might get worse over the next 24 hours. Both events are very rare. They make up only 1%-2% of all drowni…

1%-2% doesn't seem "very rare" to me.

Drownings are rare, I would say that 1-2% of something rare is very rare.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#172

What's the point of this? Should I be surprised that I do a poor job at watching a camera footage compared to a person being present there with all sensory inputs, context, trained to spot drowning people?

It shows what actually drowning looks like which is quiet and very predictable movements that don't match how most people expect it to look from movies/tv.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never learned to swim. At age 14 I felt like someone pushed me into the river at noon time, sun was very bright and there was no one there but me catching fishes alone, I fell right into the river. I didn't drown I figured out how to swim out of instinct - I wonder how common it is. This is one of the least things shown in movies that some people can end up swimming on their own without having previously learnt it.

Where did the pusher go?

Goddamn, the pusher man.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#174
post #89

I am impressed by these videos any time the pop up on hacker news. But one thing struck me: that they are using those large floatation rings. A lot of the incidents seem to be where a child looses contact to the ring and then cannot swim on itself. I am wondering, why they are allowed at all. In my personal experience, I have rarely seen such rings in public pools and that basically means, you are not getting far int…

Many of these samples are also in a wave pool. And crowded. I assume with all of the above, drowning risk is much higher in these pools. It's a shame that swimming/water survival aren't a part of school in the US. Knowing how to tread water and doggy paddle are valuable, life-saving skills.

There is of course education that can help in a lot of these situations. What amazes me is that there is no one around these kids to look for them apart from the pool staff.

Most pools here allow for non/bad swimmers to go where they want, with what they...under the absolute condition to have a good swimmer with them, all the time.

A small kid straying alone in the pool is already an alert and the pool staff will get the kid out of the water on the spot, with no reentry. Here the kids are big enough that they could be swimming by themselves, so for me the blame is on the parents for not being there, even if it was for just a minute.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#175
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow people don't realize the danger that pools possess. Swimming is one of the few activities that children engage in which can go so wrong as to end up in their death. I would suggest that it is borderline negligence for a parent to put a child in such a dangerous situation without proper precautions (supervision). I wouldn't let a small child I am responsible for go into a pool alone regardless of the presence…

> Swimming is one of the few activities that children engage in which can go so wrong as to end up in their death Climbing trees (fall risk) Climbing tall playground equipment (I broke my arm falling from a height of just 3 feet once, on one of those). Broken neck, etc. Playing in the street (cars) Bicycling (can get hit by a car, sigh) Trampoline (don't get me started) Exploring (falling down deep wells, etc.) The G…

Making fireworks that closely resembled pipe bombs (almost blew leg off)

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#176
post #110

Things like this give me so much respect for lifeguards, especially ocean lifeguards. Being a lifeguard in a pool is clearly tough enough; being in charge of a stretch of sand with people moving in and out constantly has to be absolutely insane. Especially since a kid could run in, get smashed by a wave, and be underwater in the time you spent glancing down the beach the other way.

When I was about 10 I got stuck in the ocean once at a beach. Even without big waves I kept getting pulled further from shore and wasn't strong enough to break past the current despite being a decent swimmer (enough to pass various tests and get certified for some level of swimming from a local camp).

I still have flashes of memories of looking back at the shore and it being quite far but not abnormally far. I just remember treading water for a pretty long time and having to signal the lifeguards with my arms. I'm happy they came eventually.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#177
post #147
post #138

Any thoughts/experience with systems like the Coral Manta 3000? https://coraldrowningdetection.com/

In the videos from the "article", the pool guard jumped in while the person is still trying to get above the water. They never lose consciousness and get away with a scare. This system is "trained to detect people under-water" and in the demo it only starts beeping after about 6 seconds of no movement while the person is on the bottom of the pool. So the person first has to get exhausted, sink, stop moving, and then…

Thanks. Yes, I was thinking of the Coral as a backup in the residential use case.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#178
post #150
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who worked as a wave pool lifeguard for 8 years and is a current certified Water Safety Instructor, I mostly agree. The large rafts are never really what I have an issue with. It's water wings and other personal flotation devices that are much more troublesome. Parents are a huge part of the issue. PFDs give them a false sense of security where they feel like they don't have to watch their kid. The best ch…

Somehow people don't realize the danger that pools possess. Swimming is one of the few activities that children engage in which can go so wrong as to end up in their death. I would suggest that it is borderline negligence for a parent to put a child in such a dangerous situation without proper precautions (supervision). I wouldn't let a small child I am responsible for go into a pool alone regardless of the presence…

It depends on the child's ability. Plenty of kids were swimming by themselves in the ocean at 8 or younger because they had a lot of experience or even doing competive swimming from younger ages. Most parents when I was a kid would set rules as too how far into the sea you could swim and that'd be it. I think this is common throughout the world in places close to beaches as I was.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#179

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 s…

> 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. My daughter, when she was about 2, fell over in about…

When I was a kid I was swimming in a children's pool in our backyard with my two younger brothers. One of my brothers was afraid to go under water. At one point, I turned around and noticed that he was underwater. It looked like he was making swimming motions as people normally do. I was surprised that he decided to do it, given his fear, and just watched him for maybe ten seconds. After some time passed I got concerned and pulled him up. Sure enough, he was drowning and I was just sitting there watching him.

I learned that day how non-obvious drowning looks. I still feel bad about it to this day, even though he ended up being alright.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Swimming is one of the few activities that children engage in which can go so wrong as to end up in their death Climbing trees (fall risk) Climbing tall playground equipment (I broke my arm falling from a height of just 3 feet once, on one of those). Broken neck, etc. Playing in the street (cars) Bicycling (can get hit by a car, sigh) Trampoline (don't get me started) Exploring (falling down deep wells, etc.) The G…

Making fireworks that closely resembled pipe bombs (almost blew leg off)

oh jesus. yeah, exactly!

I had a pyromaniac phase. Once set a field on fire. Things could have gone extremely worse.

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