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Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

spotthedrowningchild.com

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Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#81

Post by m3rc »

kawsper wrote: post #44
irishcoffee wrote: post #30

I would like to point out that any flotation device in a pool besides a life jacket is just asking for problems. I life-guarded for almost 10 years, the only way I would ever let anything that supported a human floating __besides__ an approved life jacket was if the pool was almost empty (such that the one person got my undivided attention) and if I knew the child to already be a strong swimmer. I highly encourage ev…

I was very close to drown when diving, and someone planted a 6 cm high, and 2*1 meter wide foam block[0] on top of where I had planned to surface, and I was caught underneath without much air. [0] http://shopdolphin.dk/139h/images/35111.jpg

I've never been close to drowning from something like that, but I've definitely felt that panic set in when you start swimming for the surface and then bump into a big float that wasn't there when you went down

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#82

Post by dogecoinbase »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #62
acomjean wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the idea, but the stakes are really high in downing. At some point you want it to be helpful, but not to be so good as to make the human lifegaurd not pay full attention. Machine learning might not be the way to go here.. It definitely in the realm of possibilities. They're starting to do the camera assist in the checkout product theft prevention. http://www.stoplift.com/how-it-works/

Anthropic fallacy. It seems like you are assuming a human is or will always be better than another solution. There may be solutions that are vastly superior to a human lifeguard.

They're pretty clearly not saying that no solution could be better than a human. They're saying that a solution which isn't as good as a human, combined with a human, could be worse than a human without the inadequate solution, which is true.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#83

Post by atourgates »

GBond wrote: post #31
atourgates wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent a few years of high school and college working at a summer camp, mostly as a counsellor. There were lots of great things about it, but being down by or in a lake with a group of 7-10 8-14 year olds was terrifying. I'd spend every minute counting the kids, making sure none of them were missing. At the camp I worked on, you not only had to worry about actual drownings, but also administrators who would try and…

The steal kids drill sounds quite stressful. Is the goal to train to be attentive always and spot the immediate stealing act or to keep you counting and have a proper reaction?

The goal of these specific drills was:

1) To keep counsellors attentive to the specific children under their care.

2) To give the lifeguard's the chance to practice their missing child search procedures.

It was stressful, and it was effective.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#84

Post by jsprogrammer »

kzhahou wrote: post #64
jsprogrammer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it? Did the boy do this intentionally? Did he go unconscious when entering the pool? Was he trying to stay under as long as he could? Why was he not moving at all on the way in? <- Down-mods for relevant questions.

Watching "it" happen. the drowning

> it did not wave the arms

The drowning did not wave the arms?

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#85

Post by duaneb »

trhway wrote: post #74
rdoherty wrote: post #23

A few weeks ago I was sitting 6 feet from the edge of a community pool while many parents and their children were swimming. Out of nowhere one of the lifeguards on the opposite end blows her whistle, jumps in and swims frantically across the pool to rescue a drowning boy 3 feet away from his mother . She was literally looking at him and didn't recognize he was drowning. The mother and child were only about 10 feet fr…

can't we have something like those fitness bands to be worn by children while in the pool - once a person starts drowning the heartbeat and other lifesigns are changing very characteristically and that can just turn the red light on lifeguards console on.

They would be expensive (compared to other swim equipment) and prone to error. I would much rather just train life guards professionally. :)

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#86

Post by m3rc »

trhway wrote: post #74
rdoherty wrote: post #23

A few weeks ago I was sitting 6 feet from the edge of a community pool while many parents and their children were swimming. Out of nowhere one of the lifeguards on the opposite end blows her whistle, jumps in and swims frantically across the pool to rescue a drowning boy 3 feet away from his mother . She was literally looking at him and didn't recognize he was drowning. The mother and child were only about 10 feet fr…

can't we have something like those fitness bands to be worn by children while in the pool - once a person starts drowning the heartbeat and other lifesigns are changing very characteristically and that can just turn the red light on lifeguards console on.

How easy is it to tell the difference between an elevated heartbeat due to imminent drowning, and an elevated heartbeat due to having fun?

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#87

Post by 616c »

irishcoffee wrote: post #30

I would like to point out that any flotation device in a pool besides a life jacket is just asking for problems. I life-guarded for almost 10 years, the only way I would ever let anything that supported a human floating __besides__ an approved life jacket was if the pool was almost empty (such that the one person got my undivided attention) and if I knew the child to already be a strong swimmer. I highly encourage ev…

As I guy with a young child, who ditched floaties and makes him always swim with a life jacket, thank you.

And thanks for watching other people's kids. Wage or not, that job can become real rewarding, especially once you are the humiliated and terrified parent.

I do not even let my kid walk around our community pool without it on!

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#88

Post by duaneb »

AlphaGeekZulu wrote: post #25

I witnessed a scene like this a while ago and it was such a pure horror, that I still get tears in my eyes when recalling the event. I was lying with my wife next to the pool, casually watching. A small boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, stepped to the ladder and climbed down into the water, in a completely confident, unspectacular way. With the water up to his neck, he did not start to swim, though, but just continued dow…

If you ever enjoy experimenting with babies, this is how they will act when lowered into a pool. They will stand (or sit) on the bottom, holding their breath.

Having a tea party is much easier before you realize the danger consciously.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#89

Post by JoshTriplett »

scarmig wrote: post #50

Genuine question: is it about time that we start thinking about banning (most) swimming pools? Bear with me for a second. I continually hear tragic stories of them. A child drowning in front of their parents. Someone starting to drown, and accidentally drowning another person who tried to save them. Just the other day, I read a story of how at a bachelorette party the bride-to-be was jokingly pushed into a swimming p…

No. Kids shouldn't be around a pool unless they either know how to swim or are being taught how to swim, but that's no reason to stop trained swimmers from swimming.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#90

Post by jsprogrammer »

DominikPeters wrote: post #80
jsprogrammer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it? Did the boy do this intentionally? Did he go unconscious when entering the pool? Was he trying to stay under as long as he could? Why was he not moving at all on the way in? <- Down-mods for relevant questions.

Some languages (particularly German) use the neutral gender when referring to children. It's actually quite jarring for me as a German to have a child (especially a generic child) referred to as "he" or "she" in English.

"It" is typically reserved for inanimate, non-sentient objects in English.

Besides, the story wasn't about a generic child, but a "small boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old" and was referred to with "his", "he", etc. multiple times.

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