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Abstract
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The safety of the bathing public is dependent upon effective continuous scanning techniques by lifeguards (professional) or lifesavers (voluntary) patrolling the area. Similar scanning skills are needed in other professions needing concentration for repetitive, monotonous and/or boring tasks: This includes airline pilots, air search and rescue personnel, and long-distance train or bus drivers.
To date, very little has been published on effective methods for lifeguards to use to scan their area of responsibility, particularly in water, be it surf, inland waters or swimming pools. Techniques that may positively or negatively influence visual scanning techniques, or that may affect concentration spans, or assist in the prevention of boredom and improvement in attention spans, are discussed and presented.
The United States Lifesaving Association reports that 80% of rescues at US surf beaches are caused by rip currents, a phenomenon absent at stillwater beaches. So in one environment the primary focus is poor or non-swimmers suddenly over their heads, while at the other it is the swimmer, perhaps even a strong swimmer caught in a rip. Victim identification techniques in these two cases differ accordingly....
A rip current pulls the victim offshore. It is like finding oneself on an invisible aquatic treadmill and having the treadmill move faster than one can swim. A major difference between rip current victims and still-water victims is that rip current victims can often stay afloat for quite a while, due to their swimming skills. This is fortuitous because surf rescue victims are often scores of metres offshore, requiring some time for the lifeguard to reach them.
Surf lifeguards are typically taught to identify the areas at their beaches where rip currents are most likely to present themselves and to key in on those areas for observation, though not to the exclusion of other water areas. Since the intensity of rip currents often varies continually due to a variety of factors, swimmers may at times swim in and out of a rip current area without event, then suddenly and unexpectedly be swept offshore.
The United States Lifesaving Association Manual of Open Water Lifesaving suggests some clues to signs of distress in swimmers, such as facing shore, low head, low stroke, lack of kick, waves breaking over the head, hair in the eyes, glassy eyes, two or more heads together, hand waving, fighting or being swept along by a current, erratic activity, and clinging to fixed objects. Most of these are different presentations than a lifeguard would expect to see in a distressed victim in still-water, who is too busy struggling to stay afloat to exhibit such behaviours. The typical surf rescue victim, who is able to fight a current for a period of time, would have no problem reaching shore at a still-water beach.
There have been a number of theories presented on lifeguard scanning procedures, some of which have evolved over many years and have passed the test of time. Nevertheless, there is a surprising paucity of objective study of the best methods of lifeguard surveillance and further attention to this issue seems much needed. |