[Tagging] Lifeguards & "Swim Between the Flags"

Graeme Fitzpatrick graemefitz1 at gmail.com
Fri Oct 22 05:56:47 UTC 2021


We've recently had the conversation on the AU list
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-au/2021-October/015190.html
over the best way of showing that a beach is patrolled by lifeguards, & it
was suggested that we also need an international viewpoint, as things may
be done differently overseas?

I created lifeguard=yes to show that a beach is patrolled by lifeguards,
but that they may not be in a fixed location each day.

On Australian beaches, the first thing the lifeguards do each morning is
survey the beach to determine the safest swimming area, & then mark that
area with a pair of red & yellow flags. From an early age, all Aussie kids
are taught to "swim between the flags", & it is also mentioned on
international flights coming in to tourist destinations.

I was wondering if, instead of, or in addition to?, a simple lifeguard=yes
(which means that there could be a lifeguard anywhere on the beach), it
would be better marked as something like lifeguard=flagged_area /
red_and_yellow_flags, which means that the lifeguards are at the spot where
the flags are (wherever that is today), so that is where you should swim.

NB, I am not suggesting marking the flags as a node, as they will usually
move to a different spot every day, but trying to say that the lifeguards
are at the flags.

What arrangement do you have for your patrolled beaches, & would this be
helpful?

Thanks

Graeme
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