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Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
321–330 of 394 posts
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#322When 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…
Yeah so one of the weird things is that you can't yell when you're drowning. It's not something I'd expect if I didn't know better, I'd expect to at least be able to get some shouts and screams off but it's not actually like that.
In fact I was once swimming with the son of my dad's best friend in his teens, we'd only seen each other once before as our parents lived in different countries after they married. And somehow he went deep into the sea, and at some point I looked back and saw him flapping about. I must've been 15 or so at the time but somehow even though he didn't yell or scream, and even though we'd been pretty far from the beach for like a solid 5-10 minutes (giving me the impression he had no problem swimming), I got the impression he was drowning. I'm glad I responded, but looking back it felt awkward and it wasn't a clear cut situation where you feel this heroic impulse. I didn't know him very well, he was 2-3 years older than me and bigger, and he didn't indicate to me he had issues swimming, maybe he was just playing around (just like my gf likes to lay in pools face down for like a minute at a time, which looks way more suspicious of drowning!), I really didn't want to go up to him and hold him and find out he was totally fine, it'd just be really embarrassing, as if some kid a few years younger has to rescue him at sea. Either way despite him not yelling or anything, I did swim over and grabbed him and he started pushing me down violently as if I was a floatation device, so from there it was pretty clear, and we slowly made it back to the beach and he kept thanking me for years after everytime I see him. I tried to use the rescue techniques I'd learned as a child, to have someone float on your chest basically but that totally failed in the moment and I couldn't create a moment of control to calm him down and instruct him, I just did my best to swim up and to the beach. He basically pushed me down every other second, and then I'd swim up and catch a breather as best as possible, and somehow we made it back like that. Totally exhausted and out of breath right after, can't imagine how he must've felt.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#323A 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…
This makes me cringe. I had similar with my child. Was chatting in a pool and they were only under water right behind my back. I fortunately turned round right after they were going under. It would have been so easy to be talking/distracted for a minute and have a more tragic event. There was no noise, you had to actually see it. Everyone should teach their kids to swim as early as possible.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mean any disrespect, and I do agree with the point about "encourages them to go deeper...", but I think "any flotation device" "besides a life jacket" is a little bit hardcore. We can't make everything 100% fool proof and 100% safe in every way without removing all activities. Parents need to pay attention to their kids' swimming abilities and govern their activities accordingly. If a kid can't swim really we…
The issue is with the parents, who just want to let the kid in the pool so they can go back to their phone. I do volunteer work with my local surf live saving club, looking after the kids in the under 7 program. It is exhausting work standing in the surf watching 30-40 kids at once. Most parents see it as a child-minding surface and are content to sit way up on the beach with a coffee and a phone. The point is the pa…
I would think it should be common sense to not go to the deep end without a life saving device if I don't know how to swim.
Sometimes I get cramps(? Not sure if right word?) In my legs that hamper my ability to swim. It scares me to think what I'd do if I had to swim in anything other than a small pond. I'm not a good swimmer to begin with.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I was a teenager I was in Boy Scouts. Every year we went to a summer camp that was on the edge of a large pond [1]. And one of the strictest rules there was that you were not allowed in the water until you'd passed the swimming competency test (and you had to pass it again every single year), and the main swimming test was that you had to swim laps in their roped-off section of the lake without pausing until you…
Man, BSA lifeguard was rigorous as hell. It was the only legitimately serious course that the camp offered, and it was not for beginners. I failed it the first year, and it taught me a lot about the difference between "can swim" and "competent swimmer." They later changed it to a gimme course because of "hazing" complaints, which I thought was awful.
That was by far my proudest merit badge. I felt like such a badass when I passed.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#326I feel like I must've experienced near drowning or something, because I find the experience of drowning very easy to imagine and relate to. I don't really recall anything specific.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think it's a terrible practice, wholly ineffective, and neighboring on pathological to instill terror into your staff The point of drills that simulate reality effectively is to get you comfortable enough with taking the necessary actions at the required times that you will not have terror instilled in you. This is why armies around the world all do 'live fire' exeercise and so on, and why companies run BAU or DR…
I know why a drill happens. I also know why they don't actually burn down buildings during fire drills.
I assume that's because you don't get the building back? I think they get the kid back in these particular drills.
If not, then yeah this is a terrible idea.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Yea, it looks like a useful tool to provide support while following the warnings:
Warning: Not suitable for children under 36 months Warning: Only to be used in water in which the child is within its depth and under adult supervision Warning: To be used under the direct supervision of an adult
I don't think it's a mistake that "under adult supervision" is said twice.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I was 11, I had just discovered I could kind-of swim and somehow decided to try swimming across a rather large lake. By the time I realized that was a dumb idea, I was halfway across. I collapsed from exhaustion and threw up several times after I (somehow) got across.
When I was a teenager I was in Boy Scouts. Every year we went to a summer camp that was on the edge of a large pond [1]. And one of the strictest rules there was that you were not allowed in the water until you'd passed the swimming competency test (and you had to pass it again every single year), and the main swimming test was that you had to swim laps in their roped-off section of the lake without pausing until you…
Curious: what camp in New England?
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#330Based on the two kids shown in the video being black, I did a quick google search. Seem's to be true in general.. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/15/in-pool...
There are 27 videos in the series.