An Investigation of the 10:20 Protection Rule for Detecting Aquatic Hazards

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Aquatic Safety
• Human Factors in Safety

Background:

• Drowning remains a significant global cause of death, with 7% of injury-related deaths in 2019 attributed to it.
• Incidents continue to occur even in areas supervised by trained lifeguards.
• The 10:20 protection rule is a recommended scanning strategy by some lifeguard training agencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the 10-second scan strategy, a component of the 10:20 protection rule.
• To compare the 10-second scan strategy against a natural, comfortable scanning approach.
• To assess lifeguards' ability to adhere to the 10-second scanning protocol.

Main Methods:

• Developed two 30-minute videos with consensus-validated swimming pool hazards.
• Employed 25 lifeguards in a within-subject design, testing both 10-second and natural scan conditions.
• Lifeguards responded to hazards via whistle blow and vocalization.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in hazard detection rates between the 10-second and natural scan conditions.
• Lifeguards were unable to consistently execute the 10-second scan strategy as instructed.
• Adherence to the 10-second scan protocol was not achieved, precluding direct strategy comparison.

Conclusions:

• Lifeguards cannot practically scan their entire zone every 10 seconds, even with explicit instructions.
• The feasibility and effectiveness of the 10:20 protection rule as a scanning strategy warrant careful consideration.
• Further research may be needed to explore alternative or modified effective lifeguard scanning techniques.