Cue utilization and pool lifeguarding.

Area of Science:

• Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Aquatic Safety Research
• Lifeguard Performance Analysis

Background:

• Effective pool lifeguarding relies on rapid and accurate identification of drowning swimmers through critical cue interpretation.
• Current methods for assessing lifeguard cue utilization are expensive, time-consuming, and subjective.
• There is a need for objective and efficient methods to evaluate lifeguard performance in cue interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between cue utilization and the ability to detect drowning swimmers in simulated pool environments.
• To determine if cue utilization can serve as a predictor of lifeguarding performance.
• To explore the potential of virtual scenarios for assessing lifeguard skills.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-seven participants, with and without lifeguarding experience, were exposed to virtual public swimming pool scenarios.
• Drowning events were embedded within 13-minute and 23-minute observation periods.
• Cue utilization was measured using the EXPERTise 2.0 software (pool lifeguarding edition), classifying participants into higher and lower cue utilization groups.

Main Results:

• Participants with higher cue utilization were more experienced lifeguards.
• Higher cue utilization correlated with a greater likelihood of detecting the drowning swimmer within three minutes.
• In a 13-minute scenario, individuals with higher cue utilization spent more time observing the drowning victim before the event.

Conclusions:

• Cue utilization is significantly associated with drowning detection performance in simulated aquatic environments.
• This metric offers a potential basis for developing objective and cost-effective lifeguard performance assessments.
• The findings support the integration of cue utilization assessments into lifeguard training and evaluation programs, particularly for new or seasonal staff.