Computer saves drowning girl

A young girl has become the first swimmer in the U.K. saved from drowning by a computerized pool-monitoring system.

The accident happened on Aug. 24 when a 10-year-old girl in a swimming pool in Bangor, North Wales, sank to the bottom of the deep end.

A Poseidon monitoring system installed in the pool registered that a swimmer was in distress because she was at the bottom of the pool and not moving, and within three seconds sounded the alarm to the lifeguard on duty who pulled the girl out of the water.

The girl was resuscitated and taken to a hospital, where she recovered. Less than 40 seconds elapsed from the system alert of the potential drowning to the victim being pulled from the pool.

The Gwynedd Council installed the system at the pool for $118,000 (65,000 pounds) two years ago. Built in the 1960s, the 110-foot-long pool ranges in depth from 3.5 feet to 12.5 feet, making it one of the deepest in Wales.

The system alerts lifeguards that something suspicious is happening in real time and notifies them of the exact location of the incident. It is made up of a network of cameras mounted both above and below water level to monitor swimmers' trajectories.

Francois Marmion, general manager of Vision IQ, the company that developed Poseidon, said in a statement: "It is virtually impossible for lifeguards to see everything that is happening in the pool all of the time, given the warm, noisy and crowded environment in which they typically work."

The Poseidon system has been credited with saving swimmers in other countries as well.

Steve Ranger of Silicon.com reported from London.

[Christopher Hall]

Amazing

This is a wonderful use of technology. Kudos to Poseidon!

[lifeguard1020]

A good tool...not a replacement...

I have seen these systems in actual use, in actual facilities. The slightest thing can set it off. A diving brick, a pool vaccume, even a shadow. I have seen it with my own eyes. It IS a fantastic idea. However, we need to make sure that people don't look at these as a REPLACEMENT to actual lifeguards. It is a wonderful fantastic tool at the lifeguards disposal. The system itself still needs a WHOLE lot of work.

potential

agreed. but combined with an alert lifeguard who checks each alarm, this is a powerful system.

[corelogik]

Once in a while,..

You read something about technology that makes you all warm and
fuzzy.

Even if the system needs work and improvment it worked in this
case. To that 10 year old little girl and her family, that's all that
matters.

[volterwd]

Unless the lifeguards were

incompetent they would have found her anyways...

heck im suprised she made it to the bottom... what were the lifeguards doing?

[Transaction7]

Computer Saves Drowning Girl, Jenner

Hopefully this technology will become more affordable for pools, especially those used by children, as more demand arises from stories like this and the comment by Bruce Jenner, who, if this is the one I think, is an Olympic swimmer. When can we expect an affordable home pool version, considering 800 children who drown and morewho are horriby brain damaged in drowning situations per year in U.S.? Even $118,000.00 is a lot of money for a small town, small facility,home pool, etc.,etc., but well worth it for the precious life of a child--and may reduce liability insurance costs for pool operators.

Of course, child would have been lost anyway but for having lifeguard on duty able to do CPR etc., so hope people won't rely too heavily on technology and stop watching. Anyone having or working around a pool, or children, should learn latest CPR and first aid.

I was present, and did not see the event right away, when someone standing behind me did see child go under and to bottom like this at home pool party I attended,immediately, saving the child, but I was specifically watching the children and missed it until he hollered and went in after her.

Impressive

Expensive, but it worked, and that's what counts here.

Now they should get a grant or something to help lower the cost to around $10k or less, meaning more public pools can have this system and more lives could be potentially saved.

[pnewcomb]

Lifeguard saved drowning girl...

The Poseidon System only did what it is designed to do...keep an eye on the entire pool while the lifeguard was distracted by a group of misbehaving boys.

Our system does not replace lifeguards. It is a powerful tool to assist the lifeguards. Every step of the way, we let everyone know that Poseidon is a tool, not a replacement.

Paul B. Newcomb
North American Operations Manager
Poseidon Technologies Inc.

[hataasia]

sacunda pool alarm system

Pool alarm detects a child falling into the water in just a second.
Insensitive to wind and harsh environment.
Switching from arm mode to disarm
is password protected.
www.meorotnatan.net

[hataasia]

sacunda pool alarm system

Pool alarm detects a child falling into the water in just a second.
Insensitive to wind and harsh environment.
Switching from arm mode to disarm
is password protected.
meorotnatan.net

[hataasia]

sacunda pool alarm system

Pool alarm detects a child falling into the water in just a second.
Insensitive to wind and harsh environment.
Switching from arm mode to disarm
is password protected.
meorotnatan.net