I think everyone should spend ten minutes watching these videos. I did this once eight years ago and now the "look" is so burned into my brain that I can't unsee it. I have kids now and I am glad I could possibly spot this. The lifeguards are WAY faster but it's better than not seeing this at all.
Back in my youth, I worked as a lifeguard. It was at a pretty swank pool with a community that had an active swim team, so I didn't have a lot of trouble.
But lifeguards somehow find each other, and I knew several who worked at the local waterpark, and their jobs were way, way harder. No deaths during that time, but a lot of close calls. It's quite a thing to be 16-17 and have that pattern recognition stored, and it sticks with you.
Well worth the time to watch these videos. It's not quite the same, but it's close enough.
If it helps, the videos are of kids being rescued mere seconds after showing drowning signs. Watching these gives you very quick training on what those signs are, in a way that images or instructional pamphlets can't.
I have two boys, went to the ER so many times for stitches, sprains, and other things when they were small I felt like we should have got loyalty rewards.
Except that a person who is literally blind found it disrespectful.
People say all sorts of stupid stuff that they don’t intend to be disrespectful but which is. When it’s pointed out by someone the appropriate response is to change your behavior, not double down and make excuses.
Here’s another example: In my state (MN) it’s not uncommon for (largely) women to refer to themselves as hunting widows when their spouses go away for the weekend to hunt during the season. They say it as a joke but it’s disrespectful and diminishing to actual widows. How do I know? I’ve been widowed.
I've personally tested my ability to "drive by feel" on a road i travel at least once a day on average for the past 12 years. Like, new moon, no headlights or parking lights. It's all farmland and fences and curves, with no foglines or detents to let you know when you're straying out of the lane.
I couldn't do it in an emergency unless somehow i was in 100% beta brainwave mode (i think), but it isn't really hyperbole. Obviously if a deer or a tree or a brick or something was in the road i'd run straight into it, but that happens tops (TOPS!) two, maybe three times a week.
ETA: also if you've ever seen military vehicles with their no-show lights, it's not hard to fathom that some people can drive with next to no visual clues.
> When it’s pointed out by someone the appropriate response is to change your behavior, not double down and make excuses.
Actually, the HN response is to reflexively hit downvote to silence the blind guy, to keep the world of the offender clean and nice. I kind of expected better from the "Hacker Community", however, I continue to learn that I am pretty fuckin naiv.
These seem to be (based on two) lifeguard rescue videos. 30 seconds of lots of kids in a pool, lifeguard jumps in and swims to a person you were not able to spot needed help, and then they help that person back up safely.
Watched a couple of videos. I made the mistake of focusing too much on kids playing with the head underwater and lingering on them. You really have to focus everywhere.
By "drowning" they mean "displaying the instinctive responses to perceived difficulty maintaining breathing in the water"
I haven't watched all of them. So far no one has drowned. For a variety of ethical and legal reasons I very much doubt any reputable organisation would put a video of a fatal drowning on their site.
I don't understand your point. I watched several and each showed someone who was drowning. There was nothing in the title that suggested that they would show fatal drownings.
In the 5 or so videos I watched they were all rescued!
The app seems to be timing your response relative to response of a lifeguard: negative seconds if you noticed before a lifeguard jumps into the water, otherwise positive.
They don't drown/die. There is an instinctive response to not being able to keep oneself over water that has certain "look". The videos show busy pools and you basically try to find Waldo before the lifeguard pulls them out.
Is this only a kids thing? I'm a terrible swimmer and very dense (on fresh water my head will be completely underwater even with the lungs full), and had to be rescued once on the verge of hypothermia on an ebb tide and I was able to call for help.
