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Show Highlights

Sometimes you have customers with very specific needs or concerns about their float. In the case of medical concerns in regards to floating, there’s a lot we don’t know. Always always always have your customers discuss any serious medical concerns with their doctor. If for no other reason, if something does go wrong, even if it’s completely unrelated to their float, you’re not on the hook and have to deal with it.

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Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)

Graham: Today’s question is also here with us recording, and it is, “Do you have any information regards to clients with a pacemaker or defibrillator? Is it safe for them to float? I wasn’t sure if you all had encountered this before.

So, first of all, any kind of serious medical questions like this should be run by a doctor, which we are not.

Ashkahn: Yeah, there’s a big list of things we’re not, which you’ve maybe realized by listening to this podcast.

Graham: Lawyers, doctors …

Ashkahn: Psychiatrists…

Graham: Good podcasters…

Ashkahn: Decent humans in general. But yeah, them also, yeah, definitely not doctors is the thing we’re not today.

Graham: That said, there seems to be no real problems with it that we’ve been able to find.

Ashkahn: Yeah, I can’t think of what … Unless you somehow got salt in your blood and it went into your pacemaker and screwed up the electronics.

Graham: Yeah, kinda the biggest concern that I’ve heard is in relation to, people who have pacemakers often are taking other cardiac medications or things that affect their blood pressure, and there could be something with that, entering into deep relaxation and blood pressure problems, so I’d almost be more concerned about the paired medications than the pacemaker itself.

Ashkahn: Yeah, definitely one of those doctor questions. And this is what I would say, were a customer to ask me this at the float center, I’d be like, “Oh, man, you should definitely check with your doctor about that. I can’t give you an answer.”

Graham: Yeah.

Ashkahn: “I just run a float tank center.”

Graham: For sure. And again, that said, I have a feeling the doctor would come back and say that it’s probably not a problem. I’d also say, definitely ask the doctor about contraindications with any other medications that you’re taking along with this, and again, we’ve heard from several float centers that they’ve floated people with pacemakers, they’ve never had any issues with them. In general, it wouldn’t be high on my priority list, but no reason to dodge the-

Ashkahn: Yeah, if anything, floating seems to be better for your cardiovascular system.

Graham: Yeah, but just like pregnancy, no reason to skip the whole doctor recommendation. It’s just, what if something did go wrong, and someone were to come after you, just sounds like such a awful situation. Way better to punt it over to the medical professionals.

Ashkahn: Yeah.

Graham: So, I think that’s short episode day.

Ashkahn: I guess that’s it, man. We’re not doctors, so you asked the wrong person this question.

Graham: So if you have any more medical questions to send our way, it’ll be really easy episodes. We can just kinda rehash through this exact same thing. And you can do that at floattanksolutions.com/podcast.

Recent Podcast Episodes

Thoughts on franchises vs. mom and pop float centers – DSP 135

As franchises become more common in the float industry, it’s natural for people to start wondering what the benefits and drawbacks are to opening one of them as opposed to simply starting your own center. 

Graham and Ashkahn delve into the nuanced differences between each approach, which both have very tangible benefits and drawbacks and whether or not it’s a good idea definitely depends on what kind of business a person wants to run. 

How to handle floaters getting out early – DSP 134

Sometimes… floaters get out early. That’s just what they do. But how often should that be happening? And how early? Well… it certainly depends on the length of your floats. If it is happening a lot and you run hour long floats, maybe there’s a common issue that people aren’t telling you. This is where those soft skills come in really handy. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but it also might not be anything to worry about.

Graham and Ashkahn share their experiences with this and what they see as regular floater behavior and what might be a little suspicious, along with some tips to suss out exactly what’s going on if you think it’s happening too frequently.

Thinking about safety and security for offering overnight floats – DSP 133

Being open constantly does come with its challenges, even for float centers. What do you do when the rest of the world goes to sleep but you’re still operating? Doesn’t it get dangerous? What sort of precautions do you have to make to protect your business and your employees. 

Graham and Ashkahn discuss security for Float On for the twilight hours when things can go wrong as well as some of the general challenges of running a 24 hour business. 

Problems with using certain types of soap – DSP 132

When dealing with the carefully constructed micro-environment of a float tank, any tiny addition can really throw off the appearance or chemistry (just ask anyone who’s had to deal with their water turning orange or green!). The types of soaps you use in your float rooms, along with shampoos, conditioners, and lotions can and will enter your tanks, so it’s important to consider what impact they’re going to have.

Graham and Ashkahn walk through troubleshooting water chemistry problems for this question, to help solve a particular issue. 

Methods for filling weekday float sessions – DSP 131

This is a challenging issue for any service based industry. The world still operates on a 9-to-5 schedule, often Mondays through Fridays, finding people with the availability to zen out in those hours can be a challenge, but Graham and Ashkahn have been there and have some insights to the experience. They share what they do at Float On to counter this and when to accept the margins where you’re just not getting people in to float.

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