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Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

spotthedrowningchild.com

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Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#211

Post by sosuke »

carbeewo wrote: post #194
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…

When I was a young child, my local pool allowed kids to play on large floating foam rafts (like this, but half the length: http://goo.gl/7Y4HbU ). One day I decided to show off my underwater swimming skills to a girl I fancied. After a long swim underwater, I exhausted my breath and came to resurface for air, only to get caught under a stacked pile of 5 of these rafts, with kids standing on top like in that photo! I…

Your humorous view on an otherwise harrowing story brought a smile to my face. Glad you made it. My dad was a life-guard though I never asked him for any stories, I should do that.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#212

Post by ambicapter »

astrobe_ wrote: post #161
duaneb wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's something I don't understand in this statement and in GP's story: when you stay static in the water, provided you don't carry extra weight, you just naturally go up and float to the surface. If you want to stay down, you have to actively move in order to counter Archimedes' force. The reaction of babies is therefore perfectly adapted: stay calm, hold breath, wait until your lower density brings you back to th…

Actually, if you're carrying extra weight, you're more likely to float-fat is less dense than water. If you're skin, bones and muscle, you may very well sink without a breath of air.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#213

Post by slr555 »

In general drowning is a poorly understood phenomenon among the general population. Portrayals in film and TV contribute much to many misconceptions. While there has been considerable attention paid to the fact that the act of drowning doesn't "look" like the film/TV stereotype, less focus has been placed on the sequalae of a drowning event. The alveoli, which are the functional units of our lungs where gas exchange occurs are quite delicate. Natural surfactants facilitate the work of the alveoli. Water and the contaminants it may hold disrupt these surfactants and can lead to short to intermediate term post "resuscitation" morbidity and mortality. Victims do not leap to their feet and return to saving the world as they do in the movies. Any drowning victim should be seen in the emergency department even if they are revived on scene.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#214

Post by dvirsky »

Oh great, my son who's 7 years old and can barely swim, is going to a water park tomorrow as part of his summer camp, and I won't be there to watch over him. Just what I needed to see right now :) Of course there are lifeguards out there and there's the camp staff watching over the kids, but it's my child, I can't help being a little stressed about it. It's time for proper swimming lessons I guess.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#215

Post by JoeAltmaier »

gohrt wrote: post #188
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Boy Scout lifesaving training says, when that happens (the victim climbs on top of you) then simply dive. They will let go. Then surface and try again. And always approach from behind them, get an 'arm bar' across their chest and tow them to safety with your other arm.

> Boy Scout lifesaving training > simply To be clear, that's what Boy Scout lifesaving training taught you, not what HN taught me. It's dangerous to attempt a rescue technique based on a vague memory of a forum comment. Get trained, like Joe did.

Right. Going in is actually the last resort, for trained youth anyway. We were taught "Reach, throw, row, go" in order of preference. First, lay flat on the dock and stick out an arm or leg (reach). If its too far, then throw a line with a floatation device (throw past the victim, not at them, and reel the line in until they grab it). Third, take a boat out if available. Lastly, go out yourself if absolutely necessary.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#216

Post by aftbit »

morgante wrote: post #70
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…

> We're more than happy to ban guns, while they're not even close to as dangerous as swimming pools. What? Guns cause over 3 times as many deaths as drowning.

Not of children under 14 - around 700 children under 14[1] die from drowning in swimming pools, lakes, etc (non-boating accidents). Also according to the CDC[2], around 400 children in the 0-14 age range[3] die per year from all firearm related incidents. This includes suicides, homicides, and unintentional shootings.

IIRC, when I was looking this up a few months ago, there's a sharp jump in homicides by handgun around age 17.

[1] http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/wa... [2] http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_us.html [3] http://i.imgur.com/AUTgq.png

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#218

Post by Afton »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #90
DominikPeters wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't actually understand the downvotes you are getting, unless people think that this just isn't adding to the conversation, but in the interests of making lemonaide:

We often use neuter (gender-neutral) pronouns in English, just not this one. I've heard native English speakers say things like "If a mother wants to use the nursing room, they can just key in the code in their pamphlet". There are definitely restrictions on using 'gender-neutral they' but this kind of usage is totally normal.

Which is a great sentence, because semantically the pronoun referent is obligatorily female and singular. And yet, we use 'they' in this context. Which shows (among other things) that syntactic requirements can be relatively divorced from semantics. C'mon, that's pretty cool, right?

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#219

Post by RaleyField »

rbshadel wrote: post #203
sixdimensional wrote: post #42

When I was about 7 years old, I went to a birthday pool party at a friend's house. I did not know how to swim, and was just standing near the pool, when some other kids pushed me in. I fell in the deep end of the pool, and I had the exact experience described in terms of the drowning response on that site. The other kids didn't know I couldn't swim and assumed I was fine. I nearly died that day - I tried as hard as I…

as an aside - there's actually multiple videos (not sure how many), so you can play repeatedly

27. Videos are hosted on youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeguardRescue11/videos), so you can easily watch them in sequence.

Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child

#220

Post by otherusername2 »

aembleton wrote: post #165
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…

My 20 month old has one of these Shark Fins: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SwimFin-3PK-Angelfish-Pink/dp/B001JR... I assume that they are good as he uses them in his swimming classes and with it he can swim a few metres to the side of the pool.

Looks reasonable as a support when your child is being taught how to swim (and is thus closely monitored). Looks absolutely horrible as a means of preventing your kid from drowning though.

disclaimer: I'm not in any way a professional when it comes to water safety, so this is just a remark; not advice.

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