NSPF® Introduces the Aquatic Play Feature™ Handbook
(03/03/2008)
The Aquatic Play Feature™ (APF™) Handbook published by the National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) provides guidance on how to operate and manage facilities that have waterpark-type features.
Aquatic play features have migrated from waterparks to all types of pools and facilities. “In addition to spray parks and aquatic centers, we are now seeing them at small motels, camp grounds, fitness centers, housing developments, hotel timeshare resorts, military bases, and even in some backyards,” says Thomas M. Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of NSPF. Based on recent reports, aquatic play features can complicate management and operations. “This new handbook is written as a stand-alone training manual and will allow professionals to focus resources that help them reduce risk in and around these popular entertainment features,” adds Alex Antoniou, Ph.D., Director of Educational Programs at NSPF. The APF Handbook also builds on the fundamental information in the Certified Pool/Spa Operator® certification program and the Pool Operator Primer™ online training program.
The Aquatic Play Feature Handbook concentrates on risk reduction to the users, the employees, and the facility itself. It describes the different types of play features, discusses the unique considerations to operate them, proper maintainenance of water quality, and management and operations. Critical topics include: How to deal with cloudy water, excessively high make-up water bills, high sanitizer/oxidizer consumption, very short filter runs, maintaining automated control systems, management of water and of water chemistry, chlorine and chemical addition issues, filtration and circulation concerns, and play feature operational considerations.
NSPF® Introduces French Version of the Certified Pool-Spa Operator® Handbook (01/07/2008)
The National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) is pleased to announce the availability of the Certified Pool-Spa Operator Handbook written specifically for French speakers. The Guide de l’exploitant certifié de piscine/spa® is the first French translation of the highly successful Certified Pool-Spa Operator® Handbook.
“This new translation demonstrates the commitment NSPF has to share educational materials and training throughout the world,” says Thomas M. Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of the NSPF. There is a broad base of French speaking pool and spa professionals globally. This newly-translated manual will allow easier access to important information for the professionals whose job it is to reduce risks in and around the water. The French translation supplements the English and Spanish editions of the Certified Pool-Spa Operator® Handbook and is available in January 2008.
The handbook includes valuable information on understanding and preventing drowning, suction entrapment, evisceration, diving accidents, recreational water illness, electrocutions, chemical hazards, and slips and falls. It also includes updated information on regulatory agencies and guidelines in Canada and France, disinfection, water balance, water problems, troubleshooting, chemical testing and record keeping, and chemical feed and control technology.
National Swimming Pool Foundation® Awards $1 million grant to create the National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute
(01/25/2008)
Thanks to a $1 million grant from the National Swimming Pool Foundation, Washington State University researchers plan to create the National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute (NASMI).
“This will be the world’s premiere center for aquatic health research,” says the institute director, Dr. Bruce Becker, a physician and research professor in WSU’s College of Education. “There is no other lab with this mission and focus. The addition of the foundation’s $1 million grant gives us tremendous movement forward.” Becker and Assistant Professor Kasee Hildenbrand want to find ways to make the most of aquatic exercise. “We intend to build on our initial research and fill the knowledge gaps of how water benefits our hearts, lungs and endocrine systems.”
Judy Mitchell, dean of the College of Education, said that creation of the institute will build upon WSU’s reputation for world-class research. “This research is driven by the need to know more about the effects of aquatic exercise not only on general health and well being, but on specific medical conditions such as asthma, hypertension, osteoporosis, and obesity,” Mitchell noted.
The Fifth Annual World Aquatic Health™ Conference Slated for Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 15-17, 2008
(01/07/2008)
The fifth annual World Aquatic Health™ Conference (WAHC), sponsored by the National Swimming Pool Foundation®, is scheduled for October 15-17, 2008, with an opening reception on the evening of October 15, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The World Aquatic Health Conference is the leading global aquatic research forum helping leaders anticipate trends, understand emerging issues, and contemplate long-term opportunities. “Leaders are drawn to this conference because the science helps them to see future opportunities and to prepare their organization to prosper beyond today’s challenges,” says Thomas M. Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of the NSPF®, “Science illuminates opportunities, thus our conference theme this year is The Science of Opportunity.”
“This is the first meeting that brings together public health professionals, researchers, the aquatics sector, and marketers to discuss how we promote healthy lifestyles through aquatics and, at the same time, provide safe and healthy places for the public to participate in a host of different aquatics activities,” agrees Dr. Michael Beach, Associate Director for Healthy Water, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases (NCZVED), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The conference provides a forum where leaders gather and learn through an exchange of ideas and information. Again this year, several educational tracks will be held over two days.
