Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#131

Post by TheGRS » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:49 PM UTC

616c wrote: post #87

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!

A thankless job too, I remember hating life guards growing up because they would blow their whistle at all sorts of things. They aren't trying to be jerks of course, but that was my perception when I was very young and just loved swimming. Being older I see how tough that job would be.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#132

Post by mholmes680 » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:50 PM UTC

atourgates wrote: post #83

GBond wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

3) if the children are lined up on the shore safe and sound, they're not actually drowning or at risk of drowning.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#133

Post by jgrowl » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:50 PM UTC

Can we get opencv to detect when this happens?

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#134

Post by rtkwe » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:51 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #77

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…

Most newer swimming pools in the US don't have a "deep end".[1] [1] http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/article/The-End-...

I've noticed that and find it really annoying and sad. I had a lot of fun in the deep end of pools especially diving in.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#135

Post by mdonahoe » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:53 PM UTC

dluan wrote: post #61

The level creator was fun!

I thought this was a joke at first, but here is the link.

http://spotthedrowningchild.com/creator.html

Very cool.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#136

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:55 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#137

Post by dpeck » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:57 PM UTC

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #43

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…

What do you think of this style of lifejacket/water wings? http://www.amazon.com/Stearns-Puddle-Jumper-Deluxe-Jacket/dp... That's what we use with our two year old son, though he's also only in pools with one-on-one attention. I'd prefer to just take him to shallower pools, but his feet just don't touch in any of our local pools, and puddle jumper seemed like a good option for him to have a little independent explora…

they're great, have several for my kid. One at grandparents houses, and one at home. Class 3 Coast Guard approved, really happy with them.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#138

Post by TheGRS » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:58 PM UTC

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.

A summer camp I went to when I was younger was very heavily focused on swimming and water craft. We had 3 different colored bands to indicate your swimming ability. Red if you couldn't swim well, yellow if you were OK, but not enough for the deep end and green for the deep end. The counselors tested and trained the kids to go up the color bands, which was pretty neat, but I realize now that it was also a way to keep an eye on weaker swimmers. I think red bands had to have a life jacket on even while in the pool on the shallow end.

There was also the coveted blue band, which you could only get by doing a very rigorous set of tests and passing junior lifeguard training. I had to swim who knows how many laps and tread water for like an hour, plus lift bricks up off the pool floor and various other lifeguard-related things. The blue bands were super "rare" and I realize now it was just an inventive way to encourage the kids to swim better and harder.

Not exactly the same bands you were talking about, but a cheaper alternative and a good way to keep control and prevent drownings before they happen.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#139

Post by robertfw » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:58 PM UTC

imjared wrote: post #40

slayed0 wrote: post #14

I always assumed my friends who spent their summers lifeguarding had a simple carefree job. I never gave much thought to just how attentive you have to be as a lifeguard. Thanks for putting this into perspective (literally) for the rest of us.

Was a waterpark lifeguard during highschool. We went through training every Tuesday night and were all CPR certified. It's a far cry from the lifeguards you see sitting around at neighborhood pools. If I was at the wave pool, I could easily be responsible for watching hundreds of people at any given time both in the water and in my immediate vicinity of the deck (choking? heat stroke?) The job was sometimes so intens…

> The job was sometimes so intense I'd wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because I thought I had forgotten my whistle or someone was having an emergency.

I had the same waking panics while being a camp counsellor. We'd have 7 day sessions with 3 day breaks in between and quite often those breaks were punctuated with waking up bolt upright to figure out where my kids were. Took a while for that to pass.

Also took a while to remember how to eat slowly (you eat quick, or you don't eat!)

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#140

Post by smackfu » Tue, Jul 28, 2015, 6:58 PM UTC

I found this a bit confusing. I thought it was one of those things where the drowning kid doesn't look like he was drowning. But instead, no one is generally drowning in the first 10-15 seconds. Then a kid flips over a floatie or such, and they are pretty clearly the one in trouble. Then the lifeguard jumps in.

So you really only have 2-3 seconds to spot the child.