Smart Water Safety for Children: IoT-based Monitoring and Emergency Alert System

Abstract

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental deaths among children, largely due to insufficient supervision and delayed emergency responses. This paper presents the development of the Smart Water Safety for Children system, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based prototype designed to enhance child safety during aquatic activities. The proposed system integrates multiple sensors including a MAX30100 pulse oximeter, a water-level sensor, and a NEO-6MV2 GPS module, all managed by a NodeMCU V3 microcontroller. These components collect real-time physiological and positional data from the child, which is transmitted via Wi-Fi to a Firebase cloud database and visualized through a mobile application developed on Android Studio. The application provides guardians with real-time updates on heart rate, oxygen saturation, and location, issuing alerts when critical thresholds are detected. Functional and physiological testing confirms the system's reliability in identifying near-drowning scenarios and effectively notifying emergency contacts. This system demonstrates a cost-effective, scalable, and accessible solution for enhancing aquatic safety among children.