Baywatch in the Laboratory—Differences in Visual Surveillance Between Lifeguards and Non-Lifeguards

Quickly recognizing distress and drowning is an essential skill for lifeguards. Unfortunately, it is unclear to what extent visual behavior contributes to the ability of a lifeguard to detect hazardous aquatic situations. Twenty-four non-lifeguards and twenty-four beach lifeguards watched two 15-min clips filmed from the perspective of a beach lifeguard. Participants were instructed to press the spacebar if they would undertake an action, and call out why they reacted. No difference in the number of reactions or average fixation duration was found between groups. However, lifeguards looked ‘deeper’ in the sea than non-lifeguards, had a higher variation in gaze location in the horizontal plane, and a lower variation in the vertical plane. For both lifeguards and non-lifeguards, average fixation duration in the 5 s prior to a reaction was longer than the overall average fixation duration. Overall, results show experiential differences in visual behavior between lifeguards and non-lifeguards.