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Ability Of Lifeguards To Detect Submerged Manikins In Public Swimming Pool Environments, Élie Vignac, Pascal Lebihain, Brice Guignard, Natacha Heutte, Loic Le Minor, Bastien Soulé
Ability Of Lifeguards To Detect Submerged Manikins In Public Swimming Pool Environments, Élie Vignac, Pascal Lebihain, Brice Guignard, Natacha Heutte, Loic Le Minor, Bastien Soulé
International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education
To prevent drownings in public swimming pools (PSP), French legislation requires constant surveillance by state-certified lifeguards. While previous research showed that surveillance was not always effective, this article focuses on efficiency of surveillance when it is effective. We evaluated the ability of 4 volunteer professional lifeguards to detect a submerged manikin under controlled conditions. One hundred and eight (108) tests were carried out in 2 PSP. Four variables were controlled (i.e., distance, depth, surveillance station, attendance). Our results showed that rapid drowning detection was not exclusively linked to the individual detection capabilities of a lifeguard, but rather it emerged from …
Effective Lifeguard Scanning: A Review, Stephen J. Langendorfer Ph.D., Francesco (Frank) A. Pia Ph.D., Angela K. Beale-Tawfeeq Ph.D.
Effective Lifeguard Scanning: A Review, Stephen J. Langendorfer Ph.D., Francesco (Frank) A. Pia Ph.D., Angela K. Beale-Tawfeeq Ph.D.
International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education
The purpose of this scientific review was to address the question of what evidence-based visual surveillance/scanning skills exist in the peer-reviewed scholarly literature. It is well known that lifeguards spend a majority of their on-duty time surveying bathers and swimmers in the water. Lifeguards need to quickly distinguish among swimmers in distress and drowning persons from other bathers in order to rapidly come to their aid to prevent drowning. To be able to accomplish this task, Signal Detection Theory reveals that lifeguards need specific and extensive training in identifying the behavioral patterns associated with drowning persons and swimmers in distress. …