Underwater Cameras Let Lifeguards Save Unseen Drowning Victims

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They say war can be described as "long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror." However, based on what some of us have heard, the same adage can probably apply to lifeguarding.

Lifeguards have to watch a very monotonous scene for a long period of time, so many of them report that staying awake is a serious issue on the job. After all, every moment a lifeguard isn't alert is another moment that could put someone's life in danger.

This sounds a little dramatic, but it's sadly true. While some drowning victims will shout the way we see on TV, most of them don't have the strength, so it's much more likely for them to remain silent as they go down. To make matters worse, it often only takes seconds for someone to slip under the water and drown, especially if they're a child.

Yet, it's impossible to watch literally every detail at every moment. As humans, we sadly aren't built that way. So to fill in these blind spots, British lifeguards have found a solution that you can see in the full video.

As you watch the video, you'll notice how easily someone can fall unconscious while swimming. Whether it's because of a sudden health problem, head trauma, or just an unexpected intake of water, they can quickly find themselves at the mercy of the water. These swimmers need immediate rescue, but it's only really clear to lifeguards that they're in distress if they're floating at the surface.

If the victim is resting at the bottom of the pool, especially if the pool is crowded, it's easy to miss them. So, what can be done?

Many British citizens will tell you that the UK has a big surveillance problem. At last count, there were about 6 million CCTV cameras watching people there, which roughly translates to about one camera for every 11 people. Yet, one of the problems with this explosion of cameras is that they still have human eyes watching the footage. It's almost impossible to find what you're looking for if you have to comb through more data than you can imagine to do it.

So they needed to come up with some new tech to focus on points of interest and develop a smart system to analyze these mountains of footage. For many citizens, this was bad news because it meant the government was getting more effective at watching their every move. Yet, as the full video shows, this technology can have life-saving uses too.

This finally brings us to the underwater camera system we see at work in the video. As you can see, when the cameras see something suspicious at the bottom of the pool, an alarm sounds and lifeguards know there's someone in danger who is out of their view.

Victims often face a death sentence when they end up trapped underwater, but now they may have some hope for survival.

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