Making A Splash: New Technology Geared At Keeping Your Kids Safe While Swimming

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By Mia Bolarid-Forget

While some of you are breaking out the sleighs and skis and packing up the pool (if you haven’t done so already), others of you are focusing on the fair weather ahead (of the cold winter), or some fun family fun in the sun, in a well-needed and deserved getaway.
Either way the idea of getting your feet (and the rest of your body) wet with some summer fun seems more than appealing as the weather dips toward the lower temps. And, for many that means literally diving into a pool of fun and excitement.

But for many parents, that means the added concern of keeping kids safe while they are splashing around. But as many of you well know it’s can be pretty difficult tying to enjoy yourself while also trying to keep and eye on les enfants. But, now some new technology allows for parents and lifeguards alike to have eyes in the back of their head vis a vis a device at the bottom of the pool.

The device allows a signal to be sounded once it identifies an object at the bottom of the pool (that shouldn’t be there and is there for more than 10 seconds). Additionally, the “device” (or rather setup) features several overhead cameras looking down, and several other underwater cameras “navigating” the bottom of the pool.

The cameras are all linked to a network of monitors, programmed to pick locate “foreign” objects (at the bottom of the pool). Sensors warn the computer signaling a red light to flash on a screen. In turn, lifeguards wear a pager, which tells them that something is amiss at the bottom the pool, and calls them to action.

This, say many lifeguards is especially helpful in situations when a silent drowning is taking place. This “phenomenon” simply refers to a potential drowning that occurs without any signs of struggle, and in which the person (child) quietly slips to the bottom of the pool. And they note that in instances where time is of the essence, this new piece of equipment, offers the best kind of peace of mind.

Long Island Safety Articles > Making A Splash: New Technology Geared At Keeping Your Kids Safe While Swimming