We are very pleased to welcome Gary and Sharon Washbourne to Shallow Water Blackout Prevention’s Board of Advisors. After the tragic loss of their twleve year old nephew to SWB they have worked tirelessly to educate aquatics industry leaders in Australia of the dangers of SWB. Gary and Sharon, thank you for your work and support. We appreciate you, and welcome aboard!
Please visit their website, shallowwaterblackout.org.
To all of our friends on the West Coast – Please make plans to join us at the 2012 Congress and Exposition in Anaheim, California on October 18, 2012. Rhonda Milner will be speaking with Dr. Tom Griffiths and Rachel Griffiths.
Visit www.nrpa.org/Congress2012 to learn more!
Spearfisherman tragically found dead off New York coast. Shallow water blackout likely. Read article here.
We would like to thank Rebecca Robinson for mentioning SWBP on her blog. Rebecca has a passion for global water safety among all children and is devoted to educating children on the importance of water safety. She has a strong following, and recently published a blog about SWB. We are thrilled to partner with Rebecca in preventing senseless deaths from shallow water blackout. Please visit her site here!
A student near Charlotte, North Carolina passed out while practicing competitive swimming, nearly drowned. Click here to view story.
Dear Dr. Milner & Mr. Griffiths,
My name is Martin Stepanek, and I am the Director of Education and Development for Freediving Instructors International (F.I.I). I recently viewed your interview on CNN addressing the dangers of shallow water blackout and I am appreciative that someone is so passionately addressing this important issue. As you are aware, this matter is becoming more and more urgent as the younger generation is increasingly drawn to the outdoor water sports – inparticular, freediving & spearfishing.
Prevention of shallow water blackout for freediving and in-water activities has been for the past decade and always will be, the sole interest of Freediving Instructors International. Besides the great amount of hands on field experience with such incidences, I have been privileged to assist to and co-work with some of the top researchers in freediving physiology addressing key issues such as latent hypoxia (shallow water blackout.) This experience has served as a strong foundation for establishing the safety standards and procedures for safe freediving and spearfishing that have been applied to the FII educational system. FII is currently the largest freediving education agency in the United States and it is recognized worldwide as a leader in modern freediving education.
As I have mentioned earlier, I have an immense amount of respect for your efforts, and I would like to offer our support. I would certainly be interested to hear how we (F.I.I.) can be helpful to your endeavors. Please feel free to contact me directly via email or call anytime.
Respectfully,
Martin Stepanek
Please view this wonderful interview here. Special thanks to Dr. Gupta for helping to raise awareness about SWB and saving lives!
Rhonda Milner will be interviewed this week by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the dangers of shallow water blackout. The segment is scheduled to air this Saturday (9/1) at 4:30 p.m. ET and Sunday (9/2) at 7:30 a.m. Please set your DVR’s to record “Sanjay Gupta MD” this weekend, and share this exciting news with your friends!
A year after she lost her husband to a diving accident off Laguna Beach, San Clemente’s Michelle Brislen has a new mission in life – alerting others about a little-known affliction called “shallow water blackout.” Continue reading article.
She has created a user friendly Power Point presentation, suitable for junior and senior high age groups. View this and other shallow water blackout teaching materials here.
The American Red Cross 2012 Lifeguarding Manual has included “no hyperventilating before swimming underwater or breath-holding contests” in their “Rules and Regulations” on page 27 of the manual.
