On the 25th August 2018 Andy Read experienced a truly harrowing “Live Changing Event” when he suffered a huge Cardiac Arrest.
Many of us within the industry who know Andy were really shocked and concerned when we heard the bad news.
Nine months on, having followed his recovery with an ever increasing smile, Andy and Places Leisure have released this video, in which he tells his remarkable story and how a defib helped save his life.
#moredefibsinmoreplaces
It was really exciting to finally get an interesting joint project off the ground with the RLSS last week.
Gathering at West Bromwich Leisure Centre with a team of like minded individuals, which inluded Jo Talbot -Director RLSS and Helen Meckiffe - Safety Manager Right Directions to name but two.
Overnight filming this week with the RLSS UK when we shot footage to produce realistic videos of casualties in difficulty, many of which we re-enacted from actual incidents….
Looking forward to sharing the results of this first set of resources, in what we all hope will be a very worthwhile initiative.
Safety in Swimming Pools Seminar in Basingstoke - March 2019
Another superb “Prevention is Better than Cure” safety seminar complete
The speakers included Mike Shuff, Ian Nicks, Robin McGloughlin, Helen Meckiffe, Robin Mitchell, Colin Jenkinson and Steve Gallagher
The focus of the seminar was to provide operators with the tools to prevent, rather than cure when it came to Health and Safety incidents in Swimming Pools.
The next seminar takes place in Scotland on 26th September where the focus will be on “Innovation and Automation”
We have been collaborating with the Swiss company “Bluefox” over the past few months - testing and filming their new Bluefox ST1 personal wristband
The wristband recognises when the child or swimmer is in trouble and triggers the alarm before others around have even recognised that someone near them are in difficulty.
BlueFox ST1 recognises the depth you are swimming in and measures the time you are spending below a certain depth. Once you exceed the preset duration it will release a balloon with a loud siren to the water surface. This noisy alarm will attract the attention of all present people.
We were impressed - have a look for yourself
#thisisnotagame #blendedlifeguarding #supportinglifeguards
It was great to go to site this week and finally see this particular design of easy access steps for the main pool tank. This particular site was the latest Places Leisure new build
One of the problems we (and Lifeguards) have had to overcome in recent times is with the design of easy access steps.
Many have had an “underwater wall” as shown in this example which creates blind spots for the Lifeguards.
Steps are also traditionally positioned on the opposite side of the pool to where the steps are designed in and the “blind spot” can be problematic to manage.
Delighted to see this positive “step” forward in swimming pool design
Another Poolview installation commissioned and handed over - Blended Lifeguarding at its best!
Quest NBS Conference 2019
Director Robin McGloughlin is delighted to be presenting alongside Right Directions, Helen Meckiffe at this years Quest NBS Conference in Warwick on 27th February..
Entitled: Stitching Together - The Concept of Blended Lifeguarding, which will give an insight into the purpose of drowning detection technology, it’s place within the industry and a review of how we can support the evolution of Lifeguarding.
For further details follow this link Quest NBS Conference 2019
The next in our successful series of Swimming Pool Seminars - “Prevention is Better than Cure” is being held on Thursday 21st March in Basingstoke.
To secure your place please follow this link - Basingstoke Seminar
Looking forward to seeing some of you there
Early morning and late night in Laganvalley Leisureplex with Mac&Mac Media shooting some material for our forthcoming Elevate event in London. The UK’s largest physical activity trade show is taking place in London this May and we will be there!
Huge thanks to the ever helpful, understanding and accommodating staff at the Leisureplex - very much appreciated.
Managing Director Paul Brown welcomes our new Contracts Manager Daniel Collier to Poolview
We are delighted to announce that Daniel Collier has joined us as Contracts Manager having spent the last six years at the Environment Agency.
He is a 2012 graduate from the University of Leeds with an MEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Daniel brings a different perspective and drive to Poolview and as well a being our key contact for all installations, he will focus on high quality and timely Contract Delivery, alongside the Health, Safety, Environment and Wellbeing of both the business and workforce.
Welcome Daniel - another cog in the wheel for Poolview - delivering “Blended Lifeguarding” to poolside!
Poolview Ltd - A Lifeguarding Company - using Technology to Support Lifeguards!
#blendedlifeguarding #thisisnotagame #supportinglifeguards #makingadifference
The “Olympic Pool” at the London Aquatic Centre
After an unbelievable 2018 where we introduced “Blended Lifeguarding” to almost 50 new pools, what a way to kick off the New Year with an installation in the iconic pool that was the scene of the Olympics in 2012.
#blendedlifeguarding #supportinglifeguards #thisisnotagame
“Lifeguarding with Technology Assisted Detection”
Our concept of “Blended Lifeguarding” is gathering pace and spreading around the UK
We thought you might like to see pictures from site of our last 10 Poolview Plus+ installations completed since September.
All with different challenges.
One more before Christmas and then three to follow in January
Photo Credits Wally Wallis
Delighted to be involved once again at the latest “Safety in Swimming Pools” seminar in Solihull.
The seminar was attended by those who are involved in the management, maintenance or operation of swimming pools and focused on providing tools and techniques that would allow leisure operators to "prevent as opposed to cure" when it came to Health and Safety incidents.
The speakers were all experts in their own field with particular emphasis on the health and safety aspects of pool management and included:-
Robin Mitchell - Pioneering Pool Solutions
Helen Meckiffe - Right Directions
Ian Nicks - PWTAG
Colin Jenkinson - Leisure Safety Training
Mike Shuff - PALM Academy
Stephen Gallagher - Lonza
Robin McGloughlin - Poolview Limited
Another visit to Stuttgart and the largest “Pool Show”in Europe.
Meeting old friends and making new.
Introducing Poolview Plus+ to more and more
#supportinglifeguards #thisisnotagame #thisisagamechanger
As the pace of Poolview Plus+ installations continues around the country, it has become a necessity to add another vehicle to the fleet and very nice it is too!
Poolview Plus+ #supportinglifeguards #thisisnotagame #thisisagamechanger
Informative day at Broadwood Stadium in Glasgow for the Scottish leg of the Swimming Pool Seminar Series.
A number of key pillars from within the swimming pool health and safety community delivered a variety of workshops and talks on how swimming pools can comply with best practice. The speakers focused on providing tools and techniques that allow leisure operators to "prevent as oppose to cure".
Industry Experts included:
Robin Mitchell - Pioneering Pool Solutions
Ian Nicks - PWTAG
Colin Jenkinson - Leisure Safety Training
Mike Shuff - Carlton Associates Limited
Helen Meckiffe - Lifeguarding Industry Expert
Robin McGloughlin - Poolview
Back in London again with the first fix team on their first overnight session. We have had quite a journey this summer with installations on a weekly basis up and down the country.
Booked up weekly until 21st December in 2018 with an installation to finish an amazing year off in Yorkshire.
Still plenty of “water to go under the bridge” before then though!
Poolview Plus+ - “Blended Lifeguarding” at its best!
I have had some very interesting conversations over the last month or so with quite a few individuals about how we make use of technology to support lifeguards in swimming pools.
The majority was very positive, but some of it was quite surprising, raised by uninformed thinking from a few individuals. less understanding of the progress and the pace of change..
Some not fully understanding “where we actually are with technology and how we got here”
So I thought I should put fingers to keyboard (not pen to paper)!
At this stage in the UK with progress on the introduction of Drowning Prevention and Detection Technology we have just moving from the “Innovators” stage into the “Early Adopters” phase of establishment.
The Five Stages of technology Adoption
Innovators (2.5%) – Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures.
Early Adopters (13.5%) – This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Early Adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. More discrete in adoption choices than innovators. Realise judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central communication position
For companies like Poolview Ltd and their Innovater/Early Adopter partners this can prove to be a very trying time as well as exciting.
When I reflect upon how we got here and really take stock and look at the numbers, the realisation really does hit me that we are forging and developing a new frontier.
As an innovator in my days as a leisure manager I was very blessed with having an understanding and supportive Director. I didn’t realise it until quite a few years later, I just presumed that everyone was in the same boat as me!
Roll forward quite a few years as I dipped my toes in the private sector and actually trying to “sell” technology - I very quickly realised that finding “Innovaters” was very difficult and that’s when the penny dropped that not everyone thought the same way as me.
So when we started Poolview Ltd just six short years ago, we formed a very tentative partnership with the then called DC Leisure. Like any partnership it took time to gain mutual trust, grow and develop.
We both wanted to "add layers of protection" to existing safety arrangements for swimmers and lifeguards alike. Figuring out together, how best to achieve this and in what configuration was the challenge.
This we did in a very organic way. Year one - 3 installations, Year two 7 installations, Year three - 15 installations, right up until today with the now called "Places Leisure" where we have installed or are installing just short of 70 systems in their swimming pools.
Places Leisure during this growth became much cherished “Sneezers” (a Sneezer is someone who spreads an idea) and installations in other private sector companies such as Everyone Active and Serco etc. followed.
Throughout this entire period we stopped “selling” product and rather concentrated on advising and educating the industry as to the benefits of ALL types and makes of technology for lifeguards, both wearable and optical.
I very strongly believed that we were at a tipping point within the industry and that our mission was to challenge, shape, mould and change the way in which we lifeguard pools in the UK today.
Engagement with many key players in the field, from the RLSS to Sport England, from the HSE to CIMSPA was vital, either face to face or round the back door!
In the eyes of the public - computer detection has been around for some time with Poseidon probably being the most widely known over that last two decades - but it always seemed to be a “nice to have, but not an essential" luxury!
We again were very lucky to have an incredibly supporting and accommodating partner in the guise of Places Leisure who kindly gave us permission in the summer of 2016 to start testing the software in the background with our Norwegian partners SwimEye.
I had a very focussed view on how I wanted the software developed for use in the UK market and thankfully I was fully supported by my fellow Directors, SwimEye and importantly Places Leisure - this integration is now referred to as “Blended Lifeguarding”.
We finally launched Poolview Plus+ on January 4th 2018 in Graves Health and Sports Centre and to say it has been an interesting eight months since, is the understatement of the century!
We feel privileged to now have a joint vision for what we are trying to achieve with both Places Leisure and most recently Everyone Active. Support from GLL, Freedom, Serco, David Lloyd and Parkwood to name a few has also been both constructive and integral.
However, what we should not forget nor lose sight of is that for us and many others this is just the start of a journey. The use of technology in swimming pools has been around for 20 plus years with little real advancement nor adoption until recently.
We are “barely out of nappies!”
The pace of our software development since January has been phenomenal with rapid advances every couple of months.
Poolview Ltd is very committed to the use of technology in swimming pools, but not for the sake of technology. The Lifeguard is at the forefront of our minds with any change or improvement we make.
"We can teach lifeguards great detection skills, efficient emergency action plans, practical rescue techniques and high quality CPR. What we can’t teach them is how to be vigilant for long periods in low stimulation environments" (Gary Johnson - Pool Super Vision).
The industry needs developing technology such as Poolview Plus+. We can’t rescue them, if we don’t see them.
We didn’t just waken up in July 1969 and man had suddenly landed on the moon. It took a decade of intensive effort, development and training to get there.
With technology in pools, we have orbited the moon, but we haven’t landed yet!
Directors - Paul Brown, Chris Day and Robin McGloughlin in the new Kinoulton premises.
Delighted to have moved into our our new premises and base in Kinoulton. Our unit is sited in Wolds Farm Business Park and it's from here that we assemble and prepare all our systems for installation. The maintenance and install teams also operate from here and we are "filling up" the space very quickly.
Onwards and upwards - Poolview Safer Swimming Systems #supportinglifeguards
Delighted to be invited to speak in Scotland at the 2018 Swimming Pool Seminar.
Helen Meckiffe and Robin McGloughlin will be covering the use of Drowning Detection systems in Swimming Pools and Improving the Effectiveness of Lifeguard Training.
If you are interested in attending - register your interest on line via the contact page on the Pioneering Pool Solutions website
We frequently get asked to explain what the various types of drowning detection systems are and how they work.
So, to try and help answer – described below are some of the main systems available in the market and their key features. Drowning Detection Systems (DDS) are also referred to as ‘technology driven systems or devices available to help protect swimmers’.
There are 4 general types:
Providing additional essential vision to lifeguards through underwater viewing such as Poolview™
These systems are a passive aid which require the Lifeguard to interact with in a pro-active way as part of their 10:20 scan. This system does not include “automatic drowning detection" software.
Poolview™ - Safer Swimming System
This system tracks swimmer activity and can trigger a sequence and a variety of alarm levels depending on its configuration. Manufacturers include Poolview™, SwimEye™, AngelEye and Poseidon
These software driven detection systems all use “computer intelligence” at the core of their capability.
Poolview Plus™ operates in a different way from the other systems as it is an interactive system, designed for the Lifeguards and First Responders and combines architecture, software, algorithms and methods for triggering an alert before activating a full alarm and in many peoples opinion is the most accurate, robust and dependable system available today.
Poolview Plus™
These detect when wristbands worn by swimmers remain below a certain depth over a pre-determined time e.g. SenTag, BlueFox
Swimmers are monitored via the wristbands which contain sensor and worn at all times in the swimming facility. Sensitive receivers in the pool raises an alarm if a potential drowning is taking place.
SenTag
These are independent and stand alone wearable technology devices – worn by individuals, BlueFox ST1 recognises the depth you are swimming in and measures the time you spending below a certain depth.
Once you exceed the preset duration it will release a balloon with a loud siren to the water surface. This noisy alarm will attract the attention of all people within the vicinity.
No installation of any sort is required e.g. BlueFox ST1
BlueFox ST1
Technology and installation issues have moved forward greatly since the publication of a “Drowning Detection System Briefing Note” by Sport England in 2011 The Leisure Industry is fast accepting that technology not only plays a key role in enhancing swimmer safety, but also supporting flexibility and efficiencies with staffing rotations, swimming pool timetables and systems of work.
By embracing technology, there are opportunities to both increase swimmer safety and manage your lifeguarding resource more efficiently and effectively. This will be recognised and reconciled within each pools bespoke Risk Assessment.
Operators are generally much more open to incorporating technology within their Standard Operating Procedures and fully understand the benefits. Gone are the physical constraints which once proved to be an obstacle, such as moving floors and bulk heads etc.
Robin McGloughlin, Business Development Director at Poolview explains “we have the ability to install Drowning Detection Systems into ANY pool, no matter what shape, finish or size without the need to drain the pool or interfere with normal day to day swimming programmes. Currently around 75% of our installations would be retro-fit i.e. after the pool is filled and open. Rest assured, we will offer and provide the perfect solution for your individual pool, programme, staffing ethos and environment.”
It is preferable to incorporate some infrastructure into the basic building design at an early stage rather than later when costs can very quickly escalate when “variation orders” are made.
Poolview Limited, are recognised as “industry experts” within this field and are in the position to supply the complete range of solutions for any pool, working closely with your management team to ensure seamless integration and support.
For more information visit http://www.poolview.co.uk/ or call +44 (0)77 6874 6789.
