'Code Blue' @ swimming pool

[hotfootingit]

Namechanged as this is outing but been here for years - Pom bears, naice ham, cutted up pear, etc

We've just got back from a holiday park and I was absolutely shocked by the amount of announcements in the pool for lost children / adults... more distressing was announcements for the lifeguards to declare a 'Code Blue' where they got everyone out of the pool to check the water for a missing child / vulnerable adult when they didn't respond to the announcement in case they were at the bottom of the pool...

Now have no problem with getting out and it's a sensible safeguard but we experienced THREE in less than two hours... that's three different vulnerable people missing for enough time to trigger a mass exodus of the pool.

Seemed to be an awful lot of missing people and friends have been shocked by it... certainly I have never experienced it anywhere else. Was I unreasonable to think it a really odd happening??

I see what you mean, if my ds or a vunerable adult I was with I would be with them or they would be where I could see them

I wouldn't have any problem with getting out if a pool in a potential emergency but I'd be quite perturbed to be swimming somewhere that had these so frequently. Never experienced this at any of the leisure pools we use.

It might be due to the fact some vulnerable swimmers may not respond to their name being called over the tannoy. I used to work with disabled adults and have two sons with autism.

None of the adults I worked with would have responded to their name over the tannoy, I think only our two most able service users would have approached a staff member if they were separated from the staff member looking after them. Several of them would not respond to a staff member calling them even if if they did hear them. Where I worked it was one to one support for the most able service users and two to one support for those who had a high level of need to ensure we could be as safe as possible.

With regards to my children who are age four and six they will not respond to the tannoy, they cannot approach staff, they would not respond to a parent calling them, they would not look for a parent if lost. Either might chose to leave the building, my youngest son would put his hands or feet in the pool. My eldest son will get in fully clothed to any body of water despite not being able to swim (he takes weekly lessons at school). Neither could shout for help or have a level of understanding that they should. We only take them swimming with one adult per child in a private pool we hire out for the hour for this reason. We are lucky enough to have this available locally as someone hires out a pool in their garden.

With regard to why it is needed so often my sons have no understanding of why not to do something, they have no safety awareness. Recently we were at a castle at the very top, my son was standing next to a cannon so I grabbed my phone from pocket for a picture. I glanced away for a second and when I looked back he was trying to climb through a small gap in the wall. We were several stories high and there was only a thin metal bar which wouldn't have stopped him. When we take the kids out a parent has to be in arms length and focused at all times. It only takes a second not to be focused for one of them to do something dangerous.

I always hope I am on the ball enough but I am very aware how easy it is to be briefly distracted. I assume that is what has happened here to cause all the alerts.

In a world where supervising kids means ' look up from the phone every so often' it is quite easy to see how things can go wrong.

I did a bit of repping with swim supervision. That meant sit on the side repeatedly counting the group of 8. And telling the mums ' sorry, can't chat'. Big relief to hand them over at the witching hour.

We were at a holiday park once, kids were on one of those inflatable pirate ship things, where you had to be a certain level of swimming ability to go in. I was at the side in the spectator bit (there were lots of tables and chairs) suddenly an alarm went off and a lifeguard dived in. Everyone was told to get out the pool. They pulled a boy out who was, maybe 9/10 (he was fine but had got into difficulty) the parents were at the next table to me and there was a form that had to be completed. The mother could not have been less bothered - she shouted at her ds, and was more bothered about being disturbed than the fact he nearly drowned. It was an eye opener certainly...

I've never experienced this. I've experienced Lifeguards completely ignoring the actual people in the swimming pool (Haven Devon Cliffs a couple of weeks ago), preferring instead to either have a chat or gaze aimlessly into the ceiling.

I've also - unfortunately - experienced a few "code brown" incidents in a large resort in Turkey.

Never a "code blue" however. Although, TBH, I think I'd prefer over cautious Lifeguards to the completely uninterested type.

I think OP is saying she's amazed at the number of vulnerable people who weren't being supervised well enough, and who went missing, rather than complaining she had to leave the pool.
I hated this sort of pool when my kids were younger and they wouldn't have been out if my sight for a second, wouldn't have taken them by myself for this reason, always with DH or a friend.
It is shocking that three different people weren't supervised well enough in two hours. And horrid for the pool staff as well as the members of public, although this is what they're trained to do they obviously hope to never have to drag someone out.

Yes not worried or bothered in the slightest about getting out but was worried about the amount of people seperated - alongside the three code blues there were numerous announcements for people. You'd think in a pool people would be more vigilant - I get that with some children / adults with SEN/D the level of supervision needed is higher and even then may not be enough but even so this was once every few minutes, different people being called over the PA and then three Code Blues - seems a lot and unnerved me.

Thanks for all your input - glad to hear it's not the norm