Drowning Warriors Podcast

What do you do when life happens? If you live long enough life will happen. If you know my story I don't need to tell you how life really showed up in a BIG way June of 1993.

October is here. As we move into the 4th quarter of the year and begin to reflect on the last 9 month of this year. Are you on track to meeting your goals for the year, or are you behind?

What do you do when people in your life tell you to give up on your fight, no matter what that is?

Ask yourself these two question and make a list.

What is everything that is wrong in your life?

What is everything that is right in your life?

If #1 list is longer than your #2 list, you may need to listen to this podcast

Questions I asked myself and talk about in this episode that I think you need to hear if you're not on track to meet your goals.

Has life knocked you down?

What's Your #1 Goal in Life?

What's your passion?

What Inspires you?

What's your biggest challenge?

What's you next project?

What should you be focusing on?

What's the 1 BIG THING that you want to accomplish?

Comment below or record your comment or question and we'll get it on a future episode.

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Gerry Dworkin, Lifesaving.com Aquatics Training & Consulting Services. This should be required information for all Aquatic Professionals and not to mention First Responders. Gerry shares his extensive experience not only as a first responder  all around the country in different climates and situations. His vast experience lead him to aquatics as he realized the need for aquatic training in this undeserved area. He has put together a team along with training with his years of first hand experience. Not only that his experience as an expert witness on numerous case all around the country made him the expert that he is.

You'll want to listen all the way through on this episode as he shares two case stories that stands out over the years. You'll not want to miss this very valuable educational information that he shares with you.

For more information on Gerry's aquatic training go to their website  https://lifesaving.com

Lifesaving Resources, LLC is an internationally-recognized private firm providing training and consulting services in the field of Aquatics Safety, Water Rescue, Swift-water Rescue, Ice Rescue, and EMS for the Public Safety & Rescue Sector; the Lifeguard & Aquatic Recreation Sector; and the General Public. Read More on their about page

Gerry Dworkin

Gerry serves as the Technical Consultant for Aquatics Safety and Water Rescue and is responsible for the development of all Lifesaving Resources’ educational programs; the conduct of all Lifesaving Resources’ training programs; and for technical consulting. Gerry is a professional Aquatics Safety and Water Rescue Consultant, and is the author of “The Lifeguard Competition Guidebook”, the “Ice Rescue Course Guidebook”, the “Water Rescue Course Guidebook” and the “Professional Aquatics Safety Seminar (PASS) Guidebook” all published by Lifesaving Resources, LLC.  He is also the author of “CPR for Infants and Children”, published by the Child Welfare League of America. Gerry has been a volunteer, paid-on-call, and professional Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for over 40 years and has an extensive background in Aquatics Safety,  Read More about Gerry on his About page

Make sure to check out their useful links page

Email Gerry at [email protected]

Connect with Gerry and follow him on their other social media channels

LinkedIn,  Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram

Make sure to subscribe to our podcast.

Leave a comment below or record a question or comment and we'll play the on a future episode of The Drowning Warrior Weekly Podcast.

Learn To Swim Today's episode #22 with Shawn Slevin with the Swim Strong Foundation. She talks about her experience starting as a competitive swimmer and how she had taken her passion to give back to her community in and around the surround NYC area.. Are you looking to Learn To Swim or for a partnership to work with an organization that is focused on the mission and understands the problem and works everyday to make that difference. Just listen to this episode to learn about Shawn and her Swim Strong Foundation, not to mention we'll have to have a part 2 at some point because we only scratched the surface with Shawn.

About Shawn Slevin

Shawn is a mission driven,  saving and transforming lives through teaching water safety and to learn To swim with strong swimming skills. She has a proven record for operating with the highest standards of integrity and ethics. Founder and chair of Swim Strong Foundation, not for profit 501c3 organization that not only teaches swim lessons...but lessons for life.

Shawn has been Featured on CNN en Espanol, CBS, Televisa, RTV, BronxnetTV; NY1; Centanni Radio, NASH Radio; New York Times, New York Daily News, Queens Courier; Featured on Susan Finelli's "Behind the Shadows"​ and Lauren Hard's project "Troubled Waters"​ honored by the WNBA and Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYC Commission on Women's Initiatives for making NYC a better place to live; DANDI Award nominee for businesses embracing diversity and inclusion.

www.swimstrongfoundation.org

Swim Strong Foundation Blog

"Know Before you Go" Presentation

Contact Shawn  [email protected] to get more information on her info-graphics for your programs. Plus her PowerPoint - Know Before You Go. This is a great resources to build on the partnership with Shawn and Swim Strong Foundation

Swim Strong Foundation Mission

Swim Strong Foundation’s mission is to save and change lives through water safety education and teaching swimming skills. They provide affordable swim programs to STOP the drowning. They guide students from age three through adult towards a healthy lifestyle via exercise, proper nutrition and competitive sports.

Email Shawn [email protected]

https://www.swimstrongfoundation.org/who-we-are/

If you would like to learn more about how you can Learn To Swim or Partner with Shawn and her foundation. Connect with Shawn on here social media channels

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

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Have a comment or question you would like to share and we'll play your question or comment on our next episode.

Hurricane Florence

Hurricanes are dangerous. That includes Hurricane Florence. People will die when this is all over. The only question is how many deaths?  Remember Hurricane Maria that hit Puerto Rico where 3,000 people lost their lives during and following the storm many of which were swept away do to the amount of rain and rushing water.

Hurricane Florence is going to dump a massive amount of rain that will be causing flash floods, high water that people will drive through.

Stupid people will do stupid things. I can say this because I was one of these stupid people in 1985 when hurricane Gloria was just off the coast of Virginia Beach  Listen to this Episode where I tell a story of my experience and our stupid idea that we had and how we felt that the amount of beer we drank would somehow make us invincible.

Domino's

My question that I ask you in this episode is. What's the domino's that you need to knock down today, this week, this month and this year?

Upcoming guests

Mindy York with Baby Otter Swim School

Shawn Slevin with Swim Strong Foundation

We'll be at the Live Like Jake - Be The Light dinner event on September 29th. Looking forward to meeting you if you'll be there. If you're not let us know if you're in the area so we could meet up if time allows. Would love to meet anyone we can. The more the better.

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Where do you spend your time? The 2 boxes of Water Safety and Drowning Prevention vs The Business of Water Safety and Drowning Prevention

How to bring your time that you spend in one box, more in line with what you should be focused on to move your program and the mission to move your goal forward.

You see after 25 years following my daughters drowning I believe to many people spend their time in the first box or the one on the left side. I have found myself spending way to much time in this box when I should be focused more on the business and moving our mission forward.

What we should focus on is to find an equal balance between the 2 sides to make sure we are getting what we need to learn and the relationships with others. Also to get the business results that brings us closer to reaching our GOALS. This way we are in the sweet spot of our business and moving forward.

Live Like Jake

The event to benefit The Live Like Jake Foundation go to

 https://livelikejake.com/be-the-light/

We will be there, look for us. I would love to chat a bit and learn what you're doing in the area of water safety and drowning prevention? How can we support what you are doing?

Reach out to see how you can support what they are doing not only in their own backyard but also all around the country to teach children how to float and save their lives.

This is the one skill my daughter didn't have back in 1993. If she did know how to float and self rescue she would be here today and our lives would have been on a different path.

We all need to work together to accomplish our GOALS. We all can do more than we are doing today. I know that I can.

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E-mail me to get your link to our webinar recording at [email protected]

Record your comment or let us know that you are going to be at this event for Live Like Jake

 

What's ore dangerous a Gun or a Pool?

We're talking to people on the front lines of water safety and drowning prevention.

I talked with Nicholas Dionne,  the Aquatics Director at Northern Middlesex YMCA, he shared with me what they are doing and how the recent events of drowning has affected their business. They do a great job on the education and working with children teaching swimming lessons as young as 6 months old.

Babies in the water. How do we reach the new parents before their children get into the water. Is Pediatricians the answer?  I'm a parent and I feel that this is just like Layers of Protection call it Layers of Communication, there need to more than just 1 rule to reach the parents with newborn babies and children.

What's more dangerous a Gun or a Pool? If you have a response to this question respond and record your answer to this below and we just might put your response on a future podcast. Listen for more about this question.

Who are we trying to reach with our message? Where are they at and how do we talk to them? Why doesn't TV commercials work when it comes to water safety and drowning prevention?

Branding and messaging.

Grow a Pair a great book by Larry Winget. Learn how to communicate and educate people by standing your ground and know what you're talking about. Pick up this book, it should be part of your library.

We compete with other sports when it comes to learning to swim. This is a business and needs to be treated as such. What's the value that we as a group bring to the table? We can bring all the same to the table as the other sports, as in the value. I believe that we can bring more value to the children and to the parents if they just understand what swimming can offer and then some.

Make sure you subscribe to our podcast.

Record your response to the question What's more dangerous guns or pools?

Drowning Detection Technology. Yes this is a game changer in my opinion. This is why I say this. My daughter drowned 8 feet away from a lifeguard over 25 years ago. If this technology was there as it is here today, my daughter would also be here today.

Listen to this episode 018 as we talk about drowning technology as they explain their system and how it works. It is a very simple system in the way it works with the basic technology that we all use and is in our hands everyday.

The WAVE System

WAVE is an innovative wireless real-time swimmer tracking system that determines if any swimmer is at risk of drowning and immediately alerts your staff so they can investigate and intervene if necessary.

The system works in all types of water including pools, lakes, rivers and more. It is not affected by water type, depth, clarity, glare, bubbles, marine life or other environmental factors that can adversely impact other technologies.

WAVE is designed to be lifeguard-friendly and be virtually plug-n-play. Its ruggedized components work both indoors or outside for either portable or permanent use.

Because WAVE is wireless, nothing needs to be installed below the surface. This means very little impact to your facility with no complicated retrofitting required. 

WAVE is also surprisingly affordable, with available options and payment plans to work within your operating budget. We also work with foundational grants, corporate sponsorship's and other fundraising opportunities to enable your facility to experience the benefits of WAVE.

Learn more below about how WAVE can dramatically increase safety for your facility and swimmers.

http://www.wavedds.com

Dave's Email

Dave's LinkedIn Page

Email Mark

Mark's LinkedIn Page

Comment below with your questions or what's on your mind we'll spotlight your question or comment on a future podcast.

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Yes you read that right, somebody from our past that was there at the pool 25 years ago reached out, following the episode 014 that I did with my daughter Talia.

We need to have more talks about how the affect's of the drownings of their siblings will and does affect and shape their future. Good or Bad. Plus those also that may have been there and that are affected too from these types of tragedies.

There is a whole other part of drowning out there that many times doesn't get the attention it should and that is Nonfatal drownings. We'll meet a 4 year-old who survived a nonfatal drowning over a year ago at his 4th birthday. This mother is so strong, so much stronger than I believe that I ever could be. Just look at how proud she is of her son and the smile of joy on her face and his too. Liam Strong Facebook Page

They need your support as he continues his journey with the process of healing and getting better.  Check out his store and show your support.

Drowning doesn’t discriminate, it has no boundaries, it is silent, it hits when you least expect it

Then we'll talk a little about the life expectancy of a foundation. Ours lasted for 8 years before it to came to an end. The average is 5-14 years for many reasons. Theres a few that stand out to me. I'll let you know in this episode.

Make sure that you share this with your friends and family and on all your social channels.

Comment below. Plus feel free to record your comment or question and we'll share it on a future podcast.

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Drowning is a global epidemic. In one minute, the process of drowning begins. Five minutes, brain damage. Ten minutes, death. Drowning can be prevented.

Ep016 Rebecca Wear Robinson with Make The Minute Matter The Epidemic of Drowning

Rebecca's background as an expert in social marketing began with a Master’s degree in Management from the Kellogg School of Management, with concentrations in International Management, Marketing and Economics. She also has a Master’s degree in Organizational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics, focusing on group dynamics, gender issues and flexibility in the workplace. She is leading a global campaign for social responsibility to ensure the safety of all children around water.

When Rebecca began learning about the hidden global epidemic of drowning in 2007, it created a perfect storm, combining her academic background and entrepreneurial experience with her lifelong history of advocacy for children. Rebecca accepted the challenge of ending the epidemic from the unique perspective of a strategic business consultant, determined to make an impact in the sustainable, measurable manner only a successful entrepreneur can.

She developed the concept and strategy for Make the Minute Matter and has created the structure to support the organization. An acknowledged activist and expert in the field, she works with drowning prevention organizations around the world to identify and encourage innovation, connect resources, and help organizations integrate principles of social marketing into their approach

Rebecca will be speaking at the Global Health and Innovation Conference at Yale University on April 13-14. Over 2,000 people from 55 countries and every state will be there - it would be great to have more colleagues in drowning prevention represented.

You can contact Rebecca on her website http://maketheminutematter.org or connect with via  her LinkedIn page

Make sure you subscribe to our podcast The Drowning Warrior Weekly Spotlight

 

 

In this Episode we talk about layers of protection and we hear from Heather Babcock with Carissa's Caution on her important layer of protection on education.

You can reach Heather at [email protected]

reach out on Facebook

Here's her Website http://www.carissascaution.com/

Send her some love and let her know that you heard her here and how you can help.

I also talk about working together, partnerships with others. I always say that there is power in numbers. Connect with others.

We know what we need to do. The problem is that we just don't do it. Let's start.

Reach out to me with your comments and suggestion on where we go from here