Aquatics Guide - 2019 - 21

Drownings in Pools
with Lifeguards
on Duty
Why submerged victims go unnoticed
By Maria Bella

octors Julie Gilchrist and Andrew R. Pelletier, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), identified 140
drowning deaths from 2000 to 2008 in swimming pools where
lifeguards were on duty. They drew their data from media accounts and, because the media doesn't report all drownings, concluded that
the actual number of deaths was higher. Furthermore, a sole focus on death
by drowning does not capture the entirety of the public health burden of submersion injuries. Among children under 15 years old, it is estimated that for
every death there are an additional four incidents: two nonfatal submersion
victims treated and released from emergency departments and two more who
require hospitalization.
The aquatics industry has long
pondered the cause of lifeguards
failing to identify patrons in need of
being rescued. Training programs
focus extensive effort on teaching
would-be lifeguards what to look for
when scanning the pool for active
and passive drowning victims. Some
people hypothesize that lifeguarding
is an impossible task, while others
argue that lifeguards who fail to recognize drowning victims are simply
derelict in their duties.
But, what if lifeguards are being
unintentionally set up to fail? A
multiyear scientific study, initially
developed to assist facility management in selecting and locating new
lifeguard stands, found that, oftentimes, lifeguards are simply being
positioned where they cannot identify drowning victims at the surface
or on the bottom of the pool, even

under ideal conditions.
How can this be, given that many
lifeguard training agencies require
surveillance zones to be validated
using manikins and/or silhouettes?
It turns out that when life-like devices are used, even when patrons are
instructed to ignore the submerged
" doll, " those patrons change their
activity and behavior in the pool.
This substantially alters key environmental conditions, such as turbulence and line-of-sight obstructions,
that contribute to the challenges
lifeguards face while scanning under
real-world conditions.
Some facilities that do not want to
risk frightening or offending patrons
by submerging life-like devices perform testing after-hours, with a dozen lifeguards attempting to replicate
the turbulence and obstructions created by hundreds of patrons. Other

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Aquatics Guide - 2019

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