A computer-aided detection system has helped lifeguards
rescue a teenager from drowning at a swimming pool in
Wales.
The Poseidon drowning detection system was installed at the
Bangor pool by Gwynedd County Council more than two years ago to
improve safety.
The system, built by Vision IQ, is designed to work alongside
human lifeguards. It is a computer vision surveillance system that
can recognise texture, volume and movement through a camera network
that continually surveys the pool.
A specialised software system analyses the trajectories of
swimmers in real time and the system can alert lifeguards to a
potential accident within seconds, pinpointing the endangered
swimmer’s location.
When a teenage girl sank to the bottom of the deep end at the
Bangor pool, the Poseidon system detected her still body and
sounded the alarm within three seconds.
The lifeguard then rescued the victim, who was rescusitated and
taken to hospital. The elapsed time of the entire incident was 62
seconds.
Rhys Parri, head of the lifelong learning service at Gwynedd
council, said, “Thanks to a combination of the highly professional
and effective response of council staff and the computer-aided
Poseidon detection system, what could have been a far more serious
incident was avoided.”