Swimming Tech - Beach Launched Inflatable Raft to Rescue Drowning Victims
You can ask any lifeguard and they will tell you that they must constantly be scanning the water and the surf if they are going to save anyone from drowning.
Sometimes there will be someone drowning, and people on the beach will start pointing out into the water, these onlookers will yell and scream and jump up and down to catch the lifeguard's attention.
However, this is not always the case.
Sometimes there will be so much activity on the beach that no one will notice that someone is out there drowning, they may see them waving their hands and flailing around, but they don't think anything of it.
Interestingly enough, it is those crucial minutes when someone is in trouble in the water that count.
Also if they are beyond the surf, it is very difficult for the lifeguard to get out there in time.
Even if they have a jet ski or motorized device, it still takes time.
Even if they are almost an Olympic quality swimmer, it still could easily be a minute or a minute and a half until they get out to the victim in the water.
By that time the drowning victim has already swallowed water, and is panicking.
The other day, CNN was having their awards for individuals that have started philanthropic endeavors to solve problems around the world.
There was one lady whose son had drowned in Lake Michigan.
She had developed a nonprofit group to teach kids to swim.
That got me thinking.
What if we could build a device which a lifeguard could shoot from the lifeguard station out to the drowning individual? In that case it would alleviate the minute or minute and a half time it takes to get out to them.
Here is a concept I'd like you to consider.
An inflatable device is shot out towards the drowning victim, or delivered by a micro unmanned vehicle.
Once it comes to the victim it lands, submerges, inflates and then comes up underneath the victim.
The victim doesn't even have to do anything, it lifts them into a raft like situation, and all they need to do is wait until the tide brings them back ashore.
Wouldn't that be great, especially if there were multiple drowning victims? You could save them all at the same time, while the lifeguard makes his or her way out to them.
If you'd like to do some brainstorming or help in creating and engineering such a device, I surely hope you will shoot me an e-mail so we can talk and take this a step further.
Until then, I hope you will surely consider all this and think on it.
Sometimes there will be someone drowning, and people on the beach will start pointing out into the water, these onlookers will yell and scream and jump up and down to catch the lifeguard's attention.
However, this is not always the case.
Sometimes there will be so much activity on the beach that no one will notice that someone is out there drowning, they may see them waving their hands and flailing around, but they don't think anything of it.
Interestingly enough, it is those crucial minutes when someone is in trouble in the water that count.
Also if they are beyond the surf, it is very difficult for the lifeguard to get out there in time.
Even if they have a jet ski or motorized device, it still takes time.
Even if they are almost an Olympic quality swimmer, it still could easily be a minute or a minute and a half until they get out to the victim in the water.
By that time the drowning victim has already swallowed water, and is panicking.
The other day, CNN was having their awards for individuals that have started philanthropic endeavors to solve problems around the world.
There was one lady whose son had drowned in Lake Michigan.
She had developed a nonprofit group to teach kids to swim.
That got me thinking.
What if we could build a device which a lifeguard could shoot from the lifeguard station out to the drowning individual? In that case it would alleviate the minute or minute and a half time it takes to get out to them.
Here is a concept I'd like you to consider.
An inflatable device is shot out towards the drowning victim, or delivered by a micro unmanned vehicle.
Once it comes to the victim it lands, submerges, inflates and then comes up underneath the victim.
The victim doesn't even have to do anything, it lifts them into a raft like situation, and all they need to do is wait until the tide brings them back ashore.
Wouldn't that be great, especially if there were multiple drowning victims? You could save them all at the same time, while the lifeguard makes his or her way out to them.
If you'd like to do some brainstorming or help in creating and engineering such a device, I surely hope you will shoot me an e-mail so we can talk and take this a step further.
Until then, I hope you will surely consider all this and think on it.
