Aquatic Safety Research Group - Conference Educational Sessions

Silent But Deadly: Shallow Water Blackout - Tom Griffiths
A significant increase in "shallow water blackout" deaths appears to be occurring in pools around the world. Shallow water blackout combines hyperventilation with competitive, repetitive breath-holding and/or underwater swimming. Shallow water blackout most often occurs to the best athletes and high achievers, making this dangerous activity difficult to detect and prevent. Military swimmers often succumb to this shocking and sudden death. Victims often die due to seizures and cardiac arrest, not just simple drowning. Learn the vitally important psychological and physiological causes of shallow water blackout and how to prevent it in your pool.

Seven Simple Safety Tips for Beaches - Tom Griffiths
Beach safety is a complex topic, but with these seven tips, you'll be off to a great start! Whether you manage a pond, river, lake or ocean this lecture is meant for you. Both guarded and unguarded beaches will benefit from these practical and affordable risk management strategies that really work and are specifically intended for open-water areas.

Dr. Tom's Safety Tips - Tom Griffiths
Aquatic Risk Management can be an cumbersome and comprehensive task. Simplify your safety audits and consider these Top 10 Safety issues first. Both new ideas in aquatic safety as well as the old standbys will be discussed, helping you to significantly reduce the number of accidents at your facility.

Real Aquatic Court Cases - Tom Griffiths
Most court cases settle before trial and the underlying facts and circumstances are rarely shared with aquatic professionals. Revealing the actual facts provides extremely valuable insights for running safer aquatic facilities and avoiding, as well as defending, lawsuits. These surprising verdicts and settlements will underscore the importance of safety at all aquatic venues.

Psychology of Lifeguarding - Tom Griffiths
Malsow's Hierarchy of Needs, Flow Theory, Circadian Rhythms, The Law of Association, and the Inverted "U" all help to explain how to motivate young lifeguards and keep them on task. No, you have not heard this before. This is vital material not found in water safety texts

You CAN Make A Difference (Keynote Address) - Tom Griffiths
Sit back, relax and listen how to an Apple Farmer in New Jersey, who did not know how to swim, taught Tom Griffiths everything he needed to know about Aquatic Risk Management. Starting his aquatic career as a paperboy, picking up papers on a beach for $0.25 hour, little Tommy was valuably mentored by Lifeguards and Managers who took the time to point him in the right directions. Reminisce with Tom about how water safety used to be and how we can learn from the past. Sadly, Laurel Lake where Tommy learned his trade in the 1960's succumbed to urban sprawl in the 1980's. Learn how to save and renovate our aquatic facilities. This presentation will convince you that you too can make a difference in the lives of others.

Seven Deadly Sins of Aquatic Facilities - Tom Griffiths
Aquatic Risk Management can be a comprehensive and burdensome task. Often, when too much time is spent on a variety of risk management issues, the biggest concerns and risks are overlooked. This presentation specifically addresses seven of your worst nightmares in aquatic facilities today. While each of the seven may not be deadly, they can kill an aquatic program with poor Public Relations.

The Five Minute Scanning Strategy - Tom Griffiths
A simple yet effective surveillance system that will improve the effectiveness of lifeguards on duty. Research based and field tested with thousands of lifeguards, this system improves the attention and concentration while reducing boredom of lifeguards on duty. The technique calls for a significant change in posture, position and eye pattern every five minutes along with a safety check every five minutes while on duty. The presentation is supplemented with video and has led to the development of a whole new type of lifeguard stations.

Simple Solutions to Common Pool Problems - Tom Griffiths
Cloudy Water??? Green Water??? Smelly Water??? Not to worry, this presentation attempts to aid attendees in quickly and easily identifying the most common pool and spa problems that face our industry. By using one’s senses, attendees will be taught how to find the cause of each of the problems listed and then how to correct them. The presentation is a rapid fire trouble shooting guide for those who wish to become better pool operators and managers without taking a two-day course. Chemistry, filtration and circulation are all covered in this talk that proves to be highly informative and entertaining.

Aquatic Management and Supervision by the Clock - Tom Griffiths
This presentation encourages the "MBWA" approach to Aquatic Management and Supervision, that is Management by Walking Around. With the help of simple "walkabouts" and management checks every 30 minutes, you can significantly improve the safety and enjoyment of your aquatic facilities.

Risk Management - Just Another Day at the Ball Park - Tom Griffiths
A unique and creative look at Risk Management through the use of the game of baseball. Cover all the bases of Risk Management through the use of this entertaining model that alternates between very sophisticated models and very practical models of Risk Management. Participating in this presentation will allow you to score lots of runs and maybe a grand slam in the game of Risk Management.