Study and Development of a Preventive Drowning Fashion Vest for Small Children

Abstract

Drowning is a dramatic situation, with very serious consequences and with economic impact, since when it does not cause death, causes sequelae that will affect the victim throughout his life. With regard to children, the prevalence of drowning death is higher than deaths caused by tuberculosis or measles. Considering the context of these accidents, it is known that the immersion occurs without shouting or "noises", which makes it even more difficult to detect and rescue. Rescue agility is crucial for the survival of victims, as after being submerged for only 2 minutes, the victim loses consciousness and after 4 minutes brain damage can become permanent and unalterable. Even if they survive from being submerged for some time, the victims may suffer from severe and often irreversible neurological sequelae [1, 2]. From this perspective, developing safety mechanisms for children requires knowledge of the unique needs of these individuals, arising from the cognitive and motor development of this stage of human development [3, 4]. To foster this problem, the work proposes to develop a usual garment that contains an integrated rescue device for children. The main design challenge is the harmonious matching of the rescue device's function with the fashion item, making it unnoticed. The work presented is feasibility study (online survey), which aims to verify the acceptance of parents/guardians regarding the launch of such product concept, which is presently under development, and the requisites that it should comply with.