During the first weekend at our local public pool this year, one of the lifeguards at the mid-sized kid pool was nodding off in her chair. I pointed it out to a friend, which alerted the other lifeguard on duty. He came over and told the too-tired-teen guard to leave. “If you can’t stay awake, you can’t be here,” he told her. An undercover report by CBS showed there are other lifeguards out there without an eye on the water. Some guards were texting and reading magazines instead of watching the swimmers.
On average, 10 people die a day from unintentional drowning. But, drowning generally doesn’t happen like it does in the movies, where swimmers splash and scream for help. Swimmers in serious trouble slip under the water silently.
Mario Vittone, a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, wrote a sobering article on what drowning really looks like:
There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) — of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).
Think your child is an expert swimmer and couldn’t ever get in to trouble? Watch this report from NBC and you might change your mind:
Mr. Vittone has these words of advice if you suspect a swimmer is in trouble:
Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them: “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare – you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.
So keep your eye on your kids this summer when they are around water. There’s no substitute for vigilant parental supervision.
[Via MomLogic, and thanks to David S. for the link!]
If you think your kids don’t learn anything positive from TV, then these two stories may change your mind. Two young children recently saved the lives of others by using moves they learned on SpongeBob Squarepants.
First, a 12-year old girl performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking friend. SpongeBob performs this move on Squidward when the squid chokes on his clarinet. Next, an 8-year old boy saved a younger boy from drowning this past April. The boy had seen Larry the Lobster save SpongeBob with a similar move on the show.
Not too shabby for a sponge.
So, your kids are learning from TV, whether you like it or not, and not all the lessons are bad.
A woman is suing Google after being struck by a car on a busy highway. Why is this Google’s fault? Because she was following the Google Maps walking directions at the time. In the lawsuit, she claims Google provided her,
walking directions that led her out onto Deer valley Drive, a.k.a. State Route 224, a rural highway wit no sidewalks, and a roadway that exhibits motor vehicles traveling at high speeds, that is not reasonably safe for pedestrians.
This woman apparently left her common sense at home when she departed. Concentrating on her Blackberry, she forgot how to LOOK UP and notice her surroundings.
Google warns in their walking directions, “Walking directions are in beta. Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.” This may, however, have been missing on the Blackberry edition of Google Maps. Even still, if Google told you to jump off a cliff, would you?
Again this past weekend, someone died in the New York City subway because he had jumped down onto the tracks to retrieve something. What precious item had fallen? A jacket. Yes, a man lost his life trying to save a jacket. (What’s really sad is that he was just a good samaritan trying to help the woman who dropped the jacket. She lived.)
People, if you drop something on the subway tracks, let it go. No iPhone, Blackberry, music player, piece of clothing, or shoe is worth losing your life over. If you need it back, go find a station agent or transit employee for assistance. (I know there have been cutbacks, but they still do exist.) This man was the third New Yorker in the span of six months to die from jumping down on the tracks to get something.
The trains move fast and anyone who thinks they can move faster is delusional. Also, there is no easy way to climb out. There aren’t rungs to hold onto and the platforms can be quite high up.
“It’s just not worth taking the risk,” said Paul Fleuranges, a spokesman for New York City Transit. “In one instant the coast looks clear, and you think you can hop down, retrieve your item and hop back up. In reality, it’s not that simple.”
About 90 people are hit by subway trains each year, and about half the time it is fatal. But officials could not say how many cases involved an attempt to retrieve something.
As the weather turns warmer, kids start breaking out bathing suits. And, sadly, this means a lot of kids will drown. In fact, drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., and 3/4 of all drownings take place between May and September. It stands to reason, then, that teaching kids to swim is an important safety skill.
However, parents might also be tempted to rely on water wings or floaties for the safety of their water-loving tots. It may seem like a good way to keep kids above the water, but this plan of action is not recommended:
Do not use air-filled or foam toys, such as “water wings”, “noodles”, or inner-tubes, in place of life jackets (personal flotation devices). These toys are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
Many experts believe flotation devices have no place in helping a child learn to swim and should be used sparingly, if at all. Most importantly, these should not replace close and constant parental supervision. Children need to experience their own weight in the pool (while being held or closely supervised by an adult) in order to feel the buoyancy of the water. Always having a floatie or water wings on gives kids a false sense of security: they think they can swim when they really cannot. One of the best floatation device policies we’ve seen, complete with explanation, can be found here.
On separate occasions, I have witnessed two children, recently removed from toy flotation devices, jump into the pool and then flounder underwater. The kids forgot they didn’t have their water wings on and could not swim back up to the surface. Both episodes ended happily, with caregivers nearby pulling the children to safety.
Teach your kids to swim safely. And stay nearby. Even if they know how to swim, they could still get in trouble and need help.
This episode continues a bizarre pattern in recent years of inappropriate behavior at zoos. People seem to have forgotten that these are WILD animals. Last November, a student was bitten by a panda bear in China because he was attempting to hug the animal. In 2007, a 15-year old boy jumped into the panda exhibit in the Beijing Zoo, only to have the bear bite him severely on both legs.
Obviously, no one is glad that these people were injured. But some folks have clearly forgotten that polar bears and panda bears, while cute, are still BEARS.
It’s sad that zoos need to not only think about keeping the wild animals in but also the crazy zoo visitors OUT.
Would you give up a finger to save your iPad? No, me neither. A man in Denver lost most of one finger because he tried to thwart the theft of his new iPad.
Jordan, 59, said he’d just purchased Apple’s latest must-have item and was near the parking garage when the robber struck.
Jordan had the bag containing the iPad wrapped around his left hand and was “holding on tight,” he told police.
The robber jerked so hard that it stripped the skin on part of Jordan’s pinky down to the bone. Most of the finger had to be amputated.
Here’s how I see it: iPad = replaceable (eventually). Finger = not replaceable (generally). No brainer, in my opinion.
This is similar to a purse snatching, where the advice is always to give the robber what they want. Your life, limbs, or digits aren’t worth losing over whatever is in inside.
Driving around, I see lots of houses with holiday lights still up outside. No, the lights aren’t turned on. But, the strands still frame the house with post-post-post holiday cheer.
Is this an example of marvelous efficiency or incredibly laziness?
Putting up holiday lights is no easy feat. The ladder, the reaching, the attaching, untangling, replacing bulbs…what a mess. Wouldn’t it be great to decorate the outside of your house only once every couple of years? All you would need to do in December is plug ‘em in and enjoy your previous handiwork.
Some people think it’s tacky to leave your lights up all year. Well, maybe next year, they will come and decorate your house for you.
Remember, these lights are only intended for temporary use, no more than 90 days at a time, In some places, leaving temporary holiday lights up for longer violates electrical codes. In Florida, exposure to our strong sunlight can alter the plastic in lights over time, causing potentially dangerous deterioration. A guide rule of thumb is to make sure your lights are down and packed away by January 15th.
I guess in the interest of not starting a December house fire the next time you plug them in, it’s wise to take them down. Bah, humbug.
We shouldn’t speed, drive drunk, or be aggressive/reckless behind the road. We know it, but sometimes it helps to be reminded–especially in a clever way. Australia has decided to use some off-beat humor in a viral campaign to get a safe driving message across to younger drivers. The tag line: “Don’t be a dickhead.” I must admit that some of these are amusing. You would almost think they’re Saturday Night Live skits.
The ads discuss the possible–yet completely crazy–consequences of unsafe driving. These include: red-headed angels will get their wings, you will live the rest of your life with a giant pole coming out of your stomach, Twitter and Facebook will be turned off, and more.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcIy8-EKW00
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCsPaW3Ghz0
And…wait for it…my favorite:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CBJr0GReI
It’s great to see a company (in this case, the Victoria, Australia government) doing something out of the ordinary to reach a new audience. Think of how great it would be if someone would roll out the “Don’t litter or you’re a douche bag” campaign. It would make you think twice about littering, wouldn’t it?
This week, a killer whale–which had already been involved in two deaths–killed a trainer at Sea World in Orlando in front of a crowd.
Now, I’m not going to go all PETA on your ass and start ranting about animals in captivity. My kids like to see the bears, elephants, and cows at the zoo as much as the next person. What doesn’t make sense is this is an animal who was involved in other deadly incidents. First a trainer was killed in 1991 and then a gatecrasher was found lying on top of the animal in 1999. In each case, it appeared the whale thought humans were toys.
How “dangerous” does an animal need to be before we decide it’s not worth the human life to keep it in captivity? I’m sure the orca show at Sea World is a big draw. And, the trainers are experienced and careful. But, when animals are prone to attack, is it really a good idea to keep them around? Here’s how a witness described the event:
Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale “took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off.”
Daily Dose of Common Sense cuts through the crap, hype, and pseudoscience to tell it like it is. Part science, part news, and part, er, common sense, this site may be harsh sometimes but it's just tough love.
During the first weekend at our local public pool this year, one of the lifeguards at the mid-sized kid pool was nodding off in her chair. I pointed it out to a friend, which alerted the other lifeguard on duty. He came over and told the too-tired-teen guard to leave. “If you can’t stay awake, you can’t be here,” he told her. An undercover report by CBS showed there are other lifeguards out there without an eye on the water. Some guards were texting and reading magazines instead of watching the swimmers.
If you think your kids don’t learn anything positive from TV, then these two stories may change your mind. Two young children recently saved the lives of others by using moves they learned on SpongeBob Squarepants. 
A woman is 
Again this past weekend, 
As the weather turns warmer, kids start breaking out bathing suits. And, sadly, this means a lot of kids will drown. In fact, 
Last month, a German teacher 
Would you give up a finger to save your iPad? No, me neither. A man in Denver lost most of one finger because he tried to 
Driving around, I see lots of houses with holiday lights still up outside. No, the lights aren’t turned on. But, the strands still frame the house with post-post-post holiday cheer.
This week, a killer whale–which had already been involved in two deaths–
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