concepts

CONCEPTS!

 

 

My first concept is combining speakers and mick into a protective helmet

 

 

 

My other concept is incorporating a throat mike, and waterproof earphone, into the lifeguard vest by making a whole new vest, or an over cover for it. that can either be attached to an exsisting radio

 

 





research

MORE RESEARCH

 

 

Ive been researching the component of having a waterproof microphone came a cross several products. I came across neptune headsets which can be submersed in water without any ill effects, as all cables and terminations are sealed. Options include:

• Military-approved earpieces fitted both sides
• Alternative: one earpiece with other side vented for external sound
• Waterproof microphone on flexible stainless steel boom
• Alternative: Throat microphone
• Heavy duty coiled cable fitted with non-latching waterproof plug (for fixed systems, allowing easy emergency disconnection)
• PTT fitted to headset if required

http://www.xyl78.dial.pipex.com/headsets.htm

 

NOw its about combining all of these researched factors into making a lifeguard radio whcih is retrofiited to VHFas most helmets use UHF. VHF can use channel 69 which is that national sls channel, speakers close to the ear to listen, a microphone for the talk back funtion, a function for two way talk.

 

 



RESEARCH

USEFUL INSIGHT FOR PROJECT

 

Researching on the ideals of what i want to achieve, systems around the world have been made for certain situations. The first is the water proof radio helmet by headzone, which in its self is a waterproof helmet that has a built in radio at the back that recives the signals from  the exteriror source trying to talk to them. this is a majority of things that i want to do instantly telling the person, real time and other cool features. magnet switch with amanet keys to change and work the helmet.
 

- no speaker to receve and talk back to

 

http://www.headzone.com/

 

 

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MAjority of this is waht i wanted to do, even though it didnt have the speaker to talk back into. mayb i could change appearance  or not even a helmet

or combine other products together

 

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THROAT MICROPHONE

 

next off i came across the throat microphone. rugged radio had a cool idea that it throat mic, where it had a mini din connector point taht would connect to radio types, an earphone jack to hear whats being said , and other secondary points for different areas to talk back with.

http://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=388&products_id=737&zenid=6a60daee83f87c7c770e00312406e399

 

http://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=388&products_id=737&zenid=6a60daee83f87c7c770e00312406e399

 

 

this i could imploy into my product to have the speaker and radio function.

 

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research

RESEARCH

ORIGONAL RADIO

 

 

 

 

This is the origonal surf lifeguard radio this is being used.
- big blocky like radio

- can be dropped easily

- costly

- unclear to hear whats being said

 

 

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HANDS FREE HAND SET?.

 

This is idea is a conclusion on needing hands free actions for concentrating on instructions from radio, and that its situated on the ear wear you can hear straight away whats being heard.

- Proven to be stress relieving

- ergonomic benfit comfortable to use

- hands free benefit

- mobalitiy benefit

http://www.cymbalcomm.com/benefits.html

- Phone head sets help you to lessen an external noise from backgrounds, enables to concentrate better on the person you are talking to

- clear sound, adjustable volumes

http://headsetplus.com/newsdesk69/newsdesk_info.html

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SAFE TO USE

 

By making it protective headwear aswell, will inturn help the user in the rescue situation using the transport/rescue vehicle. espically in challenging conditions such as the weather or wave conditions. this in turn will be also how the hadio will be connceted, and then harnessed to the user.

 

 

I shall study upon water protective helmets

 

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THE IDEA

THE IDEA

 

So with that i query on how i can make this hands free, and closer to the ear to hear and respond easier to. so im going to make a hands free radio , that is waterproof, and can change frequency to respond to radio chaneels, thats harnsed to the user via a saftey helmet being protective whilst driving any transport vehicle, that would ultimatley be safer to the user and people around vechile, and more efficent

 

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RADIO PROBLEM

RADIO PROBLEM!!

 

i decided on doing research into talking/listening with something in your hand to driving

so here im researching distracting doing more than one thing a the same time is very distracting and hard to do your intended activity. This is not only a saftey issue for your self but also to the public using the beach around whilst you are driving.   i have looked up the ineffectivness and how bad using mobile phones while driving a car can effect your driving skills where it has its relationships to using the radio and irb or quad bike for transport to a rescue.

 

"There are different types of driver distraction, usually divided into

those where the source of distraction is internal to the vehicle – such

as tuning a radio, or using a mobile phone, and those external to

the vehicle"

 

"Using mobile phones can cause drivers to take their eyes off the road, their

hands off the steering wheel, and their minds off the road and the surrounding

situation. It is this type of distraction – known as cognitive distraction – which

appears to have the biggest impact on driving behaviour. There is a growing

body of evidence that shows that the distraction caused by mobile phones

can impair performance in a number of ways, e.g. longer reaction times"

 

Driver distraction can be one of four tyes

 

visual (e.g. looking away from the road for a non driving-related task);

 

cognitive (e.g. reflecting on a subject of conversation as a result of talking

on the phone – rather than analysing the road situation

physical (e.g. when the driver holds or operates a device rather than steering

with both hands, or dialling on a mobile phone or leaning over to tune a

radio that may lead to rotating the steering wheel);

auditory (e.g. responding to a ringing mobile phone, or if a device is turned

                       up so loud that it masks other sounds, such as ambulance sirens)

 

 

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/distracted_driving_en.pdf

 

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From finding it hard to hear casue of always putting the and concentrating on driving the quad it can be also deemmed unsafe.

The factor of trying to hear the radio is very important, where majority of life guards had to  palce the radio up close to thier ear to listen to what is being said and driving at high speeds along the beach and is hard to hear casue of winds of the high speeds,/ weather conditions/ and or beach conditions, where distractions of trying to repeat information/ and levels of adreline have an effect on the user when their in a situation of a rescue and the brain cant fully comprehend on instructions being sent to you over the radio.

 

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Life guarding precedant

Life guarding precedant

 

FACT  TIME

 

2012-13 season

Region	Total hours patrolled	Number of rescues	Number of First Aids	Number of searches	Number of preventative actions	Safety interventions
Northern	80,048	643	789	134	37,196	131,610
Eastern	57,769	428	579	60	38,956	131,054
Central	41,817	348	433	102	18,684	36,159
Southern	32,344	226	178	61	19,397	51,004
SLSNZ total	211,978	1,645	1,979	357	114,233	349,827

 

Definitions:
Total hours worked: Total hours worked by all Surf Lifeguards.

Number of rescues: A 'rescue' is an instance where a person requires assistance to return to shore (or a place of safety) and whom without assistance would have suffered distress or injury, or drowned. This column records all these rescues.

Number of first aids: A 'first aid' is any incident where a victim is administered some form of first aid treatment. This column records the total number of these incidents.

Number of searches: A 'search' is any organised search for a missing person (or group of people) either at land or on sea. This includes body recovery. This column is the total number of searches conducted.

Number of preventative actions: A 'preventative action' is where a lifeguard identified a potentially dangerous situation and takes precautionary action to prevent the situation from developing into or contributing to a real emergency, for example:

• Shifting the flagged area during the day due to a change in surf conditions
• Preventing swimmers from entering a rip or hole
• Removing broken glass from the beach
• Checking on a swimmer who may appear to be in difficulty
• Clearing the beach of swimmers because of a suspected shark sighting
• Shifting board and ski riders out of the flagged area

Number of safety interventions: a 'safety intervention' is the estimated number of people involved in a preventative action. This column is the total number of these people.

http://www.surflifesaving.org.nz/
http://www.surflifesaving.org.nz/lifeguarding/patrolled-beaches/patrol-statistics/
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With lifeguarding i thought back to when i life guarded, and what i thought could be need of improvement and or something entirely new to make something safer.

My first idea is to have a beacons stationed along the beach in your patrol area, that when activated responds and alerts the patrol about that alert in that area and will come straight there, this is because of when on patrol and its packed your priority is to those in the flags, and if something happens outside the flags and we dont see it, this beacon can actiavte to inform us of something going wrong in the area.

My second idea came from the transport of first aid equipment. This is that when being called out to scene you have to take the first aid euipment with you. but there is no actual place for the first aid equipment on the quad bike for instance, and we have it strapped on with bungy cords. i then asked my fellow life guards around new zealand and they to dont have a place for thier first aid equipment on the quad bike. this is both inefficent for the rescue and dangerous to you and other people along the beach. so i propsed making a compartment for the first aid equipment.

My final idea came from brother when i asked him the question of what can be improved saftey wise for surflife saving. And the first thing that he commented on about is that it is really hard to concentrate on the instructions from the base when using the radio on the quad bike or IRB for transportaion to a rescue scence. So i again asked my fellow life guards, and this too seemed to be a very important reoccuring theme. so i want to make something for this idea, and i shall research onto this.