Drowning Detection and Prevention System

Swimming has always been a popular recreational activity in all parts of the world. Yet, there is no fool proof safety mechanism in place to make swimming a safe sport by eliminating the cases of drowning. Despite the number of lifeguards present to monitor the situation drowning still occurs, making drowning the third leading cause for unintentional death worldwide. This paper discusses a simple solution to detect and prevent drowning by using wireless sensors embedded in a wrist band; this solution has zero impact on fun while providing high impact in safety. The main objective of this paper is to propose a solution that not only prevents fatal drowning but also to prevent all internal injuries associated caused by drowning. The proposed solution can detect drowning consistently well irrespective of the depth of the pool, characteristics of the water and the number of people in the pool. Moving average is calculated for the previous ten readings from the sensors. The moving average values are the compared to a threshold value. When the moving average value exceeds the threshold, an alarm is raised in the mobile phone linked to the wrist band. Additionally, an airbag attached to the wristband is inflated to help the drowning victim to stay afloat. Through the linked mobile phone information is passed to the emergency services and emergency contacts alerting them to take action.

I. Introduction

Swimming is a popular recreational activity practiced throughout the world by people of all age groups. Yet swimming poses a huge risk of drowning making it the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide [1]. An average of 3,957 unintentional drowning deaths occurred each year from 2010–2019. And an average 8,080 estimated emergency department visits due to non-fatal drowning occurred each year from 2010–2019. This means that on an average there had been 22 nonfatal drownings and 11 drowning deaths per day each day in between 2010–2019 [2]. Even if a drowning victim survives, drowning injuries can cause chronic health issues like brain damage or long-term disability [3]–[5]. As a result there is an urgent need to enforce a smart pool safety system to reduce the risk of drowning and make swimming a safe activity. Nineteen percent of drowning deaths involving children occurred in pools where lifeguards were present [6]. Another study states only ten percent of the guards would be able to detect a person drowning within ten seconds. Therefore, employing more lifeguards would not be an effective solution to combat drowning. It is also important to note that in contrast to popular belief drowning does not occur as it is picturized in the media, with the victim splashing water around or yelling for help [7]. Instead drowning is a deceptively quiet event which occurs in a short span of twenty to sixty seconds. After this time period the victim gets fully submersed in water. Depending on how long the victim had been submersed in water degree of injury to brain varies from minor to severe irreversible brain damage to fatal brain death [8]. Hence it is very crucial to detect drowning and act as quickly and as early as possible to save the victim.