William Koon

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PhD Candidate, School of BEES, UNSW Sydney

Will is a PhD Candidate in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNSW Sydney studying coastal hazards, drowning and injury under the supervision of Rob Brander and Amy Peden. He spent over a decade working as a professional ocean lifeguard in California, and has experience in lifeguard rescue boat operations, emergency communications, emergency medical service delivery, and beach management. Will also served as an instructor for ocean lifeguard and Emergency Medical Services courses and was involved in several major state-wide systems updates including protocol and policy revision.

Will completed a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle where he focused his studies on injury epidemiology and biostatistics, specifically related to drowning and ocean lifeguarding. Before moving to Sydney to commence his PhD research, Will worked as a consultant in California specializing in drowning prevention and open water lifeguarding, managing a diverse array of projects for municipal agencies, councils and other land managers, hospitals, non-profit organizations and start-up private enterprises.

Will is a founding board member of the California Water Safety Coalition, a collaborating member of the International Drowning Research Alliance and the Grupo Internacional de Actividades de Prevención y Socorrismo (GIAPS) [International Group of rescue and prevention activities], and the inaugural Ben Carlson Memorial Doctoral Research Fellow.

Research Interests:

Beach injury and coastal drowning epidemiology
Ocean lifeguard data collection methods and analysis
Ocean lifeguard effectiveness and training
Beach safety prevention and education measures

Recent Publications

Koon W, Bennett E, Stempski S, Blitcivh J. Water safety education programs in culturally and linguistically diverse Seattle communities: Program design and pilot evaluation. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education. 2021;13(2) Article 2. DOI: 10.25035/ijare.13.02.02

Koon W, Peden A, Lawes J, Brander R. Coastal Drowning: A scoping review of burden, risk factors and prevention strategies. PLOS ONE. Published online first, Feb 2021. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246034

Koon W, Clemens T, Bierens JJLM, Quan L. Studying outcome predictors of drowning at the scene: Why do we have so few answers? American journal of emergency medicine. Published online first, Oct 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.10.011

Koon W, Schmidt A, Queiroga AC, Sempsrott J, Szpilman D, Webber J, Brander R. The need for consistent beach lifeguard data collection: results from an international survey. Injury Prevention. Published online first, July 2020. DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043793

Koon, W, Gates R, Scoggins S, Andrus P, Futoran J. The Ocean Lifeguard Intervention Continuum: A Cognitive Aid for Surf Lifeguard Education. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education. 2020;12(4) Article 11. DOI: 10.25035/ijare.12.04.11

Koon, W, Gates R, Futoran J. Training Evaluation for Introductory Ocean Lifeguard Instruction: A Practical Example from California. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education. 2020;12(2) Article 9. DOI: 10.25035/ijare.12.02.09

Koon W, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Quan L. Do wave heights and water levels increase ocean lifeguard rescues?. The American journal of emergency medicine. 2018;36:1195-1201. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2017.12.006

Koon W, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Quan L. The ocean lifeguard drowning prevention paradigm: How and where do lifeguards intervene in the drowning process? Injury Prevention. 2018;24:296-299. DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2017-042468

Will's Blogs

Instagram Grant: Water Safety at Selfie Hot Spots

The selfie is a modern phenomena which can have tragic consequences. Temporary lack of self-awareness and concentration can lead to slips and falls; chasing the perfect selfie can lead people to visit risky locations at hazardous times.

Coastal Drowning Trends: Costa Rican Nationals vs Visitors

Costa Rica has some of the world's best beaches and is a top-rated global tourist destination. Unfortunately, Costa Rican beaches are also dangerous and drowning among tourists has been a particular problem.

2021 Beach Safety Technology Conference

More than two hundred beach safety professionals and researchers from all over the world participated in the 2021 Beach Safety Technology Conference, "an international forum exploring the use and development of technology for ocean lifeguards, beach safety professionals and researchers." The free conference was hosted for free by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Beach Safety Research Group and Smart Beaches.

Reviewing Coastal Drowning Science

We reviewed 146 coastal drowning studies from around the world in an attempt to characterise the peer-reviewed scientific literature in the field. This study aimed to identify the key concepts, findings, evidence and gaps in the science in order to help guide future research and inform prevention activities.

Lifeguard Data Collection

Lifeguard data has been used in drowning research since the 1980s, and a few challenges have previously been identified. However, what and how that information is recorded hasn’t been formally examined until now.

Lifeguard Data Collection Shared - WCDP 2019

Dr. Andrew Schmidt from Lifeguards Without Borders presented preliminary results from the International Lifeguard Data Collection Survey at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Durban, South Africa - thanks Andrew!

Background: Lifeguard Data Collection Survey

Back in 2017 at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Vancouver, a group of us lifeguard-researcher-nerd types were talking at the International Drowning Researcher’s Alliance (IDRA) meeting.