Pool safety camera

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There are three broad classes of pool safety cameras:

remote monitoring;
seeing aids for lifeguards, drowning prevention;
cameras for automated drowning detection.

Remote monitoring is often less effective because of problems getting to the pool quickly enough to intervene. Remote monitoring includes the recording of video for insurance purposes, to prove that there was no negligence on the part of the pool operator, or the like (e.g. evidence of horseplay, drunkenness, etc., leading up to an incident, might reduce liability).

Seeing aids for lifeguards can help to see under water, or to monitor a facility from various viewpoints simultaneously. Such systems may be suitable for all types of swimming pool from simple lane swimming pools to large waterparks, bathing complexes, etc., where a variety of different kinds of swimming baths are present, although they have similar problems as the other system types because of the obstruction of water park features.

Computerized drowning detection systems, such as Poseidon, DEWS (Drowning Early Warning System) are often limited to swim-only pools, and are not yet operational in the chaotic environment of a wave pool, whirlpool, jacuzzi, or inner-tube ride.

Despite the apparent promise of such systems as Swimguard and Poseidon, many professional lifeguards and lifeguard supervisors feel that such systems may actually detract from pool safety. There are several reasons for this:

1. Because it is virtually impossible to calibrate such a system to all possible activities of patrons (i.e., swimming, staying in one place to rest, holding one's breath underwater, pretending to drown, treading water, etc.) and differentiate each one from a passive (unconscious) drowning, these systems tend to have a very large number of false alarms--bothering patrons and making themselves useless to lifeguards.

2. Because of the number of false alarms, many lifeguards learn to tune out the blaring siren and flashing lights of these systems, since "it's probably just another false alarm anyway."

3. These systems sometimes actually lull lifeguards--especially relatively new and inexperienced ones--into a false sense of security. Lifeguards at facilities with Poseidon, Swimguard and similar systems have been observed staring at the ceiling or one part of the pool for extended periods of time, as though they had forgotten what their job was!

4. Probably the most common problem with lifeguards working alongside such computerized water safety surveillance systems is that they will often momentarily ignore their primary duty of watching the water to handle the secondary of duty of checking the system when it does go off without actually checking to see if the alarm was false! This seems to happen at many facilities in which these systems are installed. Lifeguards have learned that the alarm is false 100% of the time (at least from their own experience), so they simply turn away from the pool to press "cancel" or "disable zone" on the console without ever checking the pool to see if the system was actually correct!

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