DUBAI // A wristband that alerts lifeguards if swimmers spend too long underwater could help cut drowning deaths.
Trials of the system, called Sensa, will begin in two weeks at several hotels in Dubai.
If successful, its makers hope it could be adopted by many of the emirate's 20,000 pools.
Rob White, whose UK-based firm, the Swimming Pool Safety Company, pioneered the technology, believes it could catch on in the UAE.
"It's going to change the face of lifeguarding the world over," he said. "It's really cutting edge technology."
Swimmers are given wristbands containing a sensor. If the device stays deeper than 60cm underwater for more than 20 seconds, it triggers an alarm on the lifeguard's pager.
The trial follows a spate of drownings at beaches across Dubai. But because of the need to install an underwater sensor, it is unlikely it could be used on swimming beaches.
The complete package costs a little more than Dh100,000 for one pool - but Mr White believes the system will allow for more cost-efficient lifeguard staffing levels.
"In the UK, budgets are getting tight and reducing the number of lifeguards is something that people are looking at now," he said.
The company's underwater video camera system has been adopted by major water parks in Britain, including Alton Towers, Center Parcs and Butlins.
It has also been installed in the 100-metre swimming pool in the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai.
Mr White said cultural sensitivities meant that wristbands were a better option than cameras in the Middle East.
