this is why we put our kids through ISR (http://infantswim.com). Our kids are excellent swimmers (ages 3 and 7). We also spoke to the instructor about drowning and "what it looks like". FWIW, I saw the kid drowning before the life guard reacted.
Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
241–250 of 394 posts
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#242this is why we put our kids through ISR (http://infantswim.com). Our kids are excellent swimmers (ages 3 and 7). We also spoke to the instructor about drowning and "what it looks like". FWIW, I saw the kid drowning before the life guard reacted.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I lifeguarded throughout high school and college, and it always surprised me that most of the difficulties I had were with parents/adults. For the most part, kids would give a sullen look and then listen. My only memorable troubles were the occasional adults who would just flat-out ignore or contradict rules, no matter how many times you told them (I always assumed because they thought they knew better than a ~15 yea…
I would imagine that the go-to for situations like this is "Ma'am, just following my training."
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#244This is great idea but confusing. I missed the drowning event and tried to replay, but the controls are hidden. Clicking on the logo I got to an identical looking, but different video in which a different incident takes place (there's lots of them [0]). To be educational, this should have a 'watch again' feature, or show the video controls, so I can actually re-watch the scene and watch for the features of drowning.…
If you wait, it replays it with the action zoomed in. If you click "play again," it makes you watch a different video, which I think is good, because you don't want to be too keyed in on a single instance.
You're right. I hadn't noticed that because the text popped up and I scrolled down to read it. That happens early in the video, and there's more video of people not drowning. So I scrolled up to try and replay the video, tried to seek back to the start, failed, then clicked on the YouTube logo.
I'm sure I could have noticed it, but somehow I didn't. Mostly, but perhaps not entirely, my fault.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#245Earlier 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.
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…
I would have been a blue band in your system. My parents moved to Cornwall when I was child, surrounded on 3 sides by water, I gained my surf lifesaving certificate, I was a good swimmer.
Almost two decades passes. I'm in Bali, on a deserted beach with my ex because we "don't want the average experience" or whatever. A small argument and I decide I want a swim. I walk out through the surf, my mind overcome with thoughts of the pathetic argument. I don't think about the undulating sand beneath my feet, but I should. Not even 2 minutes into my swim and I'm out a good 200m. I've swam 10km before in the sea, I'm fit enough, but I had been in a bicycle accident and fractured my dominant arm just 8 weeks prior. My natural confidence, my training, my accolades had resulted in my taking an unknown sea for granted. I looked to the sure, my girlfriend had vanished, no doubt going to lick her wounds from our previous verbal exchange.
I can honestly say the human mind is a strange thing under pressure. I thought back to being 12 and outright laughing at the tourists (emits, slang for ants in Cornish) who died every year often through a mix of alcohol and poor planning. The realisation of such past hubris was overwhelming. I also realised that the people I knew from there would be laughing at my death. I was now well over 1km from shore. My mind kicked in properly, I started swimming hard normal to the rip tide. After 5 minutes of treading water and thinking hard some rocks where looking achievable, so I decided to give it all in the hope of getting there, a fast sprint was my plan and thankfully this worked.
If ever I thought I'd given 100% to a physical activity before I was mistaken. My legs bore the brunt of this assault, my upper-body was uncoordinated due to the cycling injury. My watch was telling me I had been hard going for barely 10 minutes. I was not even half the way, my fear I think allowed for adrenaline to kick in, I was at this point making peace with death of drowning, as an asthmatic a death that has always scared me.
I made it to the rocks and to my joy I didn't need to climb along them, the rip tide was no more. I made it to shore. A half hour swim that had been like no other I've ever had and I hope will ever have. I was so upset with my ex for leaving me. Not watching nor caring as I had asked and she agreed. Going into the unknown water without someone aware is folly and I thought she would be observing me. Anger and most likely just bordem resulted in her not doing so.
TLDR: I was a good swimmer, I still so very nearly killed myself. Knowing when someone is in trouble requires education.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#246I 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 kid I put water wings on my ankles so I could walk on the water like Jesus. I fell over within 0.5 seconds of entering the pool and they held me upside down with my feet sticking out. I remember thinking I was going to die right up until my Mom jumped in and saved me.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#247A 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.
One of the most challenging bits with that is going to be transmitting RF underwater. And an interesting thing to think about is whether or not such a device would end up causing even more accidents, when people start just assuming that "it's ok if I go past my limits, someone will save me"
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for the replies. What about able swimmers? I've played water polo for several years. When participating in an activity where it's mandatory to wear a life jacket, I do, but is there really a point?
Sorry, forgot about the able swimmers. But first: another water poloist! Awesome! Water polo was pretty small in my area, so we didn't have a lot of talent in the pool. (Pun intended.) I swam distance on the swim team and was a decent sprinter, so my coach had me play both offensive and defensive hole. My best friend could keep his navel above the water for minutes, so he played keeper behind me. I still love to get…
Hey, fellow hole :)
In my team the hole would go defend number 3 usually. Defending the other hole is intense.
I see, moving water, cold water and being knocked out. Thanks for the explanation!
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
How easy is it to tell the difference between an elevated heartbeat due to imminent drowning, and an elevated heartbeat due to having fun?
just hold your breath for couple minutes (or even better - ask somebody physically stronger to "help" you to keep the plastic bag over you head to make sure that you make the time :) and i think you'll learn the difference. There is an extremely huge biological difference between "panic" and "fun/excitement". Specifically to drowning there is also oxygen blood content difference - harder to detect from outside, yet a…
Not going to mention the dangerous advice, already covered by another comment. I'd like to mention this though:
> Specifically to drowning there is also oxygen blood content difference - harder to detect from outside, yet an unmistakable indicator.
CO2 buildup should be a more reliable indicator.
Re: Show HN: Spot the Drowning Child
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
just hold your breath for couple minutes (or even better - ask somebody physically stronger to "help" you to keep the plastic bag over you head to make sure that you make the time :) and i think you'll learn the difference. There is an extremely huge biological difference between "panic" and "fun/excitement". Specifically to drowning there is also oxygen blood content difference - harder to detect from outside, yet a…
> just hold your breath for couple minutes (or even better - ask somebody physically stronger to "help" you to keep the plastic bag over you head to make sure that you make the time :) and i think you'll learn the difference. That could easily kill someone, this is totally crazy advice.
man, I've put a smile there for a reason... The "help" is brought up as a device to illustrate the difference between at-will fun excitement and against-will panic. No sane person would be forcing another to not breath ( until of course it is a part of the job, ie. like police - chockholding into submission - or military investigators - waterboarding and the like)
Edit: to "mdup" below - i've specifically mentioned "until of course it is a part of the job" above - the major aspect of Milgram experiment was to present to the experiment subjects the shock delivery as a "duty".