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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Who Are The Older Adults Who Drown In Western Australia? A Cluster Analysis Using Coronial Drowning Data., Meg Abercromby, Dr Justine E. Leavy, Lauren Nimmo, Dr Gemma Crawford Dec 2020

Who Are The Older Adults Who Drown In Western Australia? A Cluster Analysis Using Coronial Drowning Data., Meg Abercromby, Dr Justine E. Leavy, Lauren Nimmo, Dr Gemma Crawford

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Drowning amongst older people is a growing concern. Exploring demographic and other factors associated with unintentional drowning incidents amongst older adults may assist to identify key target groups and refine prevention strategies. This study sought to examine the heterogeneity of older individuals who have drowned and identify population subgroups in Western Australia (WA). A cluster analysis was used to segment the population by examining coronial data 2001-2018 (n = 93). Analysis identified four groups; 1) ‘men who boat & fish in company’ 2) ‘affluent men with poor health’ 3) ‘non-drinkers who boat and fish’, and 4) ‘older men, who slipped …


Portuguese Lifeguards Performance In Aquatic Rescue: An Exploratory Study, Olga G. Marques Ph.D., José Palacios-Aguilar Ph.D, Henrique G. Melo Mcs., Nuno G. Leitão, Lucia P. Castillo Msc., David Szpilman M.D, Luís Rama Ph.D. Jul 2020

Portuguese Lifeguards Performance In Aquatic Rescue: An Exploratory Study, Olga G. Marques Ph.D., José Palacios-Aguilar Ph.D, Henrique G. Melo Mcs., Nuno G. Leitão, Lucia P. Castillo Msc., David Szpilman M.D, Luís Rama Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The objective of the study was to compare the performance of Portuguese lifeguards in two trials of simulated rescue at the beach within a regular continuous workday. Additionally, the study aimed to analyse the influence of experience and initial course syllabus on the rescue performance. A total of 86 Portuguese lifeguards (LG) participated in this study, 69 males and 17 females. The two simulated drowning occurrences were planned to occur at 50 meters from the coastline between 9.00h am and 18.00h pm. The weather conditions, the characteristics of the beach, wave amplitude were also controlled. The results were analysed through …


Teaching Foundational Aquatic Skills To Children In Open Water Environments, Chris Button, Angela J. Button, Anne-Marie Jackson, Jim D. Cotter, Brian Maraj Jun 2020

Teaching Foundational Aquatic Skills To Children In Open Water Environments, Chris Button, Angela J. Button, Anne-Marie Jackson, Jim D. Cotter, Brian Maraj

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Learning to swim in a swimming pool might not prepare water competence sufficiently for different aquatic environments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching children water safety knowledge and skills in open water environments (i.e., harbor, river, and surf). The aquatic knowledge and skills of 98 children (7-11 years old) were tested in a swimming pool before, immediately after, and three months after receiving a three-day intensive education program. At pre-test, typically fewer than 50% of children achieved a high level of water safety competence. After the program, competency in each of the six tasks …


The Ocean Lifeguard Intervention Continuum: A Cognitive Aid For Surf Lifeguard Education, William A. Koon, Ryan M. Gates, Shane Scoggins, Paul Andrus, Jack A. Futoran May 2020

The Ocean Lifeguard Intervention Continuum: A Cognitive Aid For Surf Lifeguard Education, William A. Koon, Ryan M. Gates, Shane Scoggins, Paul Andrus, Jack A. Futoran

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Ocean lifeguards are constantly engaged in beach risk analysis, required to efficiently evaluate a variety of environmental and other factors quickly in order to triage and prioritize who needs help. Teaching these skills is a challenge for introductory training programs. We sought to improve new lifeguards’ understanding of the interaction of various risk components in the beach environment and aid decision-making related to when a lifeguard should intervene in a situation. We developed a two-part cognitive aid for introductory ocean lifeguard education depicting individual and interacting elements of a beach goer’s risk of drowning or injury and the process by …


Promising Practices For Boating Safety Initiatives That Target Indigenous Peoples In New Zealand, Australia, The United States Of America, And Canada, Mitchell Crozier, Audrey R. Giles May 2020

Promising Practices For Boating Safety Initiatives That Target Indigenous Peoples In New Zealand, Australia, The United States Of America, And Canada, Mitchell Crozier, Audrey R. Giles

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Boating-related incidents are responsible for a significant number of the drowning fatalities that occur within Indigenous communities in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, and Canada. The aim of this paper was to identify promising practices for boating safety initiatives that target Indigenous peoples within these countries and evaluate past and ongoing boating safety initiatives delivered to/with Indigenous peoples within these countries to suggest the ways in which they – or programs that follow them - may be more effective. Based upon evidence from previous research, boating safety initiatives that target Indigenous peoples in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, and Canada …


Swimming Past The Pandemic: Importance Of Evidence-Based Science, Stephen J. Langendorfer Ph.D. May 2020

Swimming Past The Pandemic: Importance Of Evidence-Based Science, Stephen J. Langendorfer Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Swimming Past the Pandemic - URL included


Staff Training In Aquatics For Individuals With Disabilities: The Quest, Susan J. Grosse May 2020

Staff Training In Aquatics For Individuals With Disabilities: The Quest, Susan J. Grosse

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Trained instructors in general programs have the ability and resources to initiate and follow through with developing water safe individuals who are capable swimmers. Specific staff training to prepare individuals to facilitate aquatic participation for individuals with disabilities is currently extremely limited. The purpose of this article is to examine the barriers to specialized staff training in aquatics for individuals with disabilities, to suggest necessary staff training content, and to propose topics for further research in the area of staff training. Seeking development of quality staff training programs for those working in aquatics for individuals with disabilities is the quest.


Wai Puna: An Indigenous Model Of Māori Water Safety And Health In Aotearoa, New Zealand, Chanel Phillips Ph.D. Apr 2020

Wai Puna: An Indigenous Model Of Māori Water Safety And Health In Aotearoa, New Zealand, Chanel Phillips Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, New Zealand) are intimately connected to wai (i.e., water) yet are overrepresented in New Zealand’s drowning statistics each year. On average Māori account for 20-24% of all preventable and non-preventable drowning fatalities, despite comprising only 15 percent of New Zealand’s population. Drowning remains a significant issue posing a threat to whānau (i.e., families) through premature death being imminent and whakapapa (i.e., genealogy) being interrupted. There is limited research that has examined Māori and indigenous understandings of water safety within the literature and limited studies that have investigated the issue of Māori drowning from a …


Drowning Of Pet Owners During Attempted Animal Rescues: The Avir-A Syndrome, John Pearn, Amy E. Peden, Richard Charles Franklin Apr 2020

Drowning Of Pet Owners During Attempted Animal Rescues: The Avir-A Syndrome, John Pearn, Amy E. Peden, Richard Charles Franklin

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The rescuer who drowns can result from the attempted rescue of a human or an animal. We report here a total population analysis of all drowning fatalities for the 14-year period 1–July-2002 to 30-June-2016 which involved an attempted rescue of an animal. Cases were drawn from the Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database, which in turn, derived its data primarily from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). Eight people drowned, all adults (ranging in age from 19-74 years), in the attempted rescue of an animal. Seven of the animals were domestic pet dogs, and in two cases farm animals. …


Training Evaluation For Introductory Ocean Lifeguard Instruction: A Practical Example From California, William A. Koon, Ryan M. Gates, Jack Futoran Apr 2020

Training Evaluation For Introductory Ocean Lifeguard Instruction: A Practical Example From California, William A. Koon, Ryan M. Gates, Jack Futoran

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Ocean lifeguards have several responsibilities that require precise training. California State Parks is one of the largest providers of open water lifeguard services in the United States, and trains approximately 200 new lifeguards per year. As part of our lifeguard training section’s quality improvement efforts, we conducted a training needs assessment to help determine how well our introductory ocean lifeguard training curriculum prepared lifeguards to perform job related tasks upon successful completion of the training program. We surveyed both first year and seasoned lead lifeguards on operational needs, training gaps, and specific subject areas. We identified several areas where our …


Association Of Drowning Mortality With Preventive Interventions: A Quarter Of A Million Deaths Evaluation In Brazil, David Szpilman, Danielli B. Mello, Ana Catarina Queiroga, Rogerio Ferreira Emygdio Rfe Mar 2020

Association Of Drowning Mortality With Preventive Interventions: A Quarter Of A Million Deaths Evaluation In Brazil, David Szpilman, Danielli B. Mello, Ana Catarina Queiroga, Rogerio Ferreira Emygdio Rfe

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In 2015, drowning in Brazil was responsible for 6,043 deaths and was the second leading cause of death in children. Although several prevention strategies have been promoted to reduce drowning, most are still based on low levels of evidence. This study evaluated the effectiveness of prevention and water safety interventions in reducing drowning mortality. Data obtained from the National Mortality System for 36 years were split in two time periods to allow the comparison of drowning mortality numbers before and after implementation of SOBRASA’s drowning prevention and water safety programs and to check for any positive effects attributable to such …