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Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

spotthedrowningchild.com

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Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#261

Post by atoav »

astura wrote: post #198
atoav wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up near a lake in the Alps and I am quite sure that any floatation device in Europe that is not safe for leaving your kids unsupervised has a big warning sign printed on the floatatiin device itself. An exeption were these orange things you strap onto a child's arms, and inflate, which they can't really remove by themselves.

>An exeption were these orange things you strap onto a child's arms, and inflate, which they can't really remove by themselves. Those are widely considered NOT safe, a non-swimmer child is probably much safer without them than with them, as using them lulls the caregiver into a false sense of security and they pay much less attention to them. They also teach children the wrong posture for swimming/floating, which can…

I maybe should have added that I grew up during the 90s so maybe that changed already.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#262

Post by cryptonector »

keanzu wrote: post #224
killjoywashere wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wouldn't let a small child I am responsible for go into a pool alone You would. Let me give you the scenario: you're home alone with the three kids, you've been chasing them around, doing laundry, cleaning up spilled grape juice, telling Jenny to stop cutting Tommy's hair, etc. Finally, you think everyone is down for a nap. You turn on the game. 5 minutes later, 5 minutes, you think "It's too quiet...". You get u…

I have a pool. I have a fence. A friend's son was visiting, also four years old, vanished for just a second and suddenly I thought Oh god, the pool. Sure enough there he was stuck outside the fence trying to get to the pool but frustrated that the latching mechanism can only be operated by someone at least 5 feet tall. I wouldn't let a small child go into a pool alone. Pool safety is life and death. Get a fence.

Better yet: don't have a private pool.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#263

Post by glenneroo »

pmarreck wrote: post #180
buckminster wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Among destructive devices built as kids in the 90s, I think our crowning accomplishment was the Thermite we made as teenagers... only possible thanks to my friend who was somehow able to acquire a big block of Magnesium. I provided the Aluminium baseball bat ;) We got lucky that it fizzled out partway through (maybe from hitting dirt?), but his parents were definitely not too thrilled about the nasty hole in the concrete patio.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#264

Post by holbue »

kieckerjan wrote: post #254
sys32768 wrote: post #239

I never got to properly thank the 15-yo lifeguard who saved my 7-yo from certain drowning in a crowded artificial lake pool. We turned away for what only seemed a minute and he was going under. He was slightly blue in the face when the life guard brought him out. The weird thing is he didn't fight or flail. He just sort of faded away into the water, and it struck me as especially weird that he didn't seemed scared at…

My mom used to tell how I almost drowned one time in a swimming pool when I was about five. I got stuck under a floating mattress of some kind. It definitely made a bigger impression on her than it did on me. I can (vaguely) remember the incident, and I don't remember freaking out or being scared of water (or mattresses) afterwards.

Might this be similar to the stress/shock introduced partial memory loss, as it often happens with heavy accidents, where the accident itself isn't remembered by the patient?

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#265

Post by OkayPhysicist »

mcv wrote: post #225
ben7799 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the pool with them they don't need armbands. Armbands are dangerous and hinder learning.

I'm not advocating armbands during swimming lessons; there's a good reason they don't use them there. But when just playing around, they are incredibly useful, and keep the kid's head above water.

As a lifeguard, I'm going to have to disagree with you. Arm-floats are blatantly dangerous, and should never be used. If they don't fit exactly the way the manufacturer planned, they run the risk of pinning a kid's face in the water, and even under ideal conditions provide minimal safety while providing a false perception of safety.

The only buoancy aids that should ever be worn are Coast Guard approved PFDs. Anything else does more harm than good.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#266

Post by hammock »

JshWright wrote: post #40
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.

A little bit of training goes a long way, I imagine. There are specific risk factors to watch for, not just waiting for a kid to start drowning. Most (not all) of the videos I saw were of a kid falling out of a tube first.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#267

Post by dotancohen »

balls187 wrote: post #249

When I was 12, I went on a week long hike as a scout. We decided to swim across a lake, and 1/2 way through, I got tired, and tried swimming back, but couldn't. I remember having the presence of mind to yell out help before blanking out. My closest friend in the troop luckily turned around, swam back to and drug me back to shore. I was scared of the water after that, but some how ended up fighting my fear and earning…

A family friend drowned to death at a public swimming pool with two lifeguards and his mother present. He was 11 years old at the time.

Never take your eyes off your kids.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#270

Post by dotancohen »

cryptonector wrote: post #262
keanzu wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a pool. I have a fence. A friend's son was visiting, also four years old, vanished for just a second and suddenly I thought Oh god, the pool. Sure enough there he was stuck outside the fence trying to get to the pool but frustrated that the latching mechanism can only be operated by someone at least 5 feet tall. I wouldn't let a small child go into a pool alone. Pool safety is life and death. Get a fence.

Better yet: don't have a private pool.

The houses in my new construction neighborhood all have pools. We deleted the pool and got almost no cash back, so far as I know we were the only family to do so. I'm not carrying that responsibility.
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