Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

spotthedrowningchild.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 394 posts

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#101

Post by trhway »

duaneb wrote: post #85
trhway wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

with regard to price i just googled randomly: http://www.amazon.com/Pulse-Oximeter-Blood-Oxygen-Monitor/dp...

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#102

Post by AlphaGeekZulu »

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

Sorry, I am not a native speaker. German. Will fix the comment, so everyone can ease off again...

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#103

Post by z3t4 »

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 around four-five years old when I was first allowed into the deep pool with some float equipment. I was like a fish and liked diving. Couldn't swim though.

When I jumped into the deep pool my floating equipment was pushed off. I panicked and struggled for my life until I somehow got to the side and then managed to get up by myself. And no-one noticed.

I stayed away from deep water until I could swim properly.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#104

Post by Kenji »

To be honest, a kid who gets into deep water with a floatation device and then falls off and notices it cannot swim shouldn't be rescued. Such stupidity should be given no opportunity to procreate.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#105

Post by ntoronto »

aylons wrote: post #75

I may sound arrogant, but I'm being honest and trying to avoid my biases. What am I missing here? These drownings looked exactly what I expected from a drowning: someone going up and down the water, splashing in a disordered manner, unable to swim or to keep the head out of the water. What do people usually expect drowning to look like? Am I missing some detail that should make drowning more evident to me?

> What do people usually expect drowning to look like?

Head erect, more splashing, perhaps a cry for help, and above all, someone who thinks and acts like a human being. You can't tell from the site, but a drowning swimmer is a wild animal. If you have to approach at all, approach with extreme caution and with something to extend your reach.

It may be you aren't surprised because the premise of the site is to identify people who are drowning. You know it'll be happening within a minute or so. In real life, it'll happen with small probability in the next few hours. It's a lot harder to spot under those circumstances.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#106

Post by stcredzero »

To me, this site addresses one area of our common knowledge where generally the media has really let down the collective good.

More and more, we live in a reality which is finely crafted to hold our interest and to live up to and satisfy all of our preconceptions. More and more, I meet young people whose fundamental outlook on the world is distorted by such forces. True reality is much subtler than we are, and has a habit of breaking with our preconceptions.

Most of the training we receive accidentally online caries the underlying message that we should just go along with the majority or be quiet and not speak up.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#107

Post by run4yourlives2 »

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.

That would probably cause a good deal of false alarms though.. people that aren't comfortable in water will have elevated heart rates every so often over normal stuff.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing overall though.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#108

Post by Qantourisc »

AlphaGeekZulu wrote: post #66
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…

I'd rather suggest to train children in swimming as soon as possible. Even if swimming pools would be banned, there are private pools, there are lakes and rivers and creeks and canals and oceans and shores, there are ships that sink and idiots that push you down a bridge. The drowning rates are especially high in countries, where people are not able to swim. I know this from the Sudan: people do not learn to swim in…

In Belgium kids are send to the pool at age ~7 until they are 12, weekly for an hour or so. And it's part of your education (but you don't have to pass it if I recall correctly but I could be mistaking).

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#109

Post by ntoronto »

rhaps0dy wrote: post #95
bsznjyewgd wrote: post #17

I watched a few of the rescues, and they were all of kids falling out of their floaties and seemingly unable to swim at all. What does it look like when an able swimmer encounters trouble? Would it look the same as the drowning response kicks in? Also, how do you differentiate the drowning response from someone that's just bad at treading water and floats low in the water? They might both be bobbing just in and out o…

I'm still curious about this: "What does it look like when an able swimmer encounters trouble?" Do adults drown as often as children?

Facts: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/wa...

When an adult or adolescent drowns, it looks exactly the same, they're much more dangerous to would-be helpers, and half the time they're drunk and surrounded by drunk people.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#110

Post by janekm »

trhway wrote: post #101
duaneb wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

with regard to price i just googled randomly: http://www.amazon.com/Pulse-Oximeter-Blood-Oxygen-Monitor/dp...

Unfortunately that type would not work in a pool... they barely work with significant movement, never mind when there's water sloshing in and out between the LEDs / light sensors.
Post reply on HN