Learn best practices for starting and running a float center:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Something in the world of floating have you stumped?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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.

Listen to Just the Audio

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

When should you call it quits? – DSP 94

Deciding when to close down is a challenge in any business, but it can hit especially hard for a float center. The upfront costs to build out are much higher than other industries, many of which simply cannot be recouped. When do you decide that it’s time to cut your losses and move on? What expenses can you recoup?

Graham and Ashkahn tackle this difficult question with laying out some sensible guidelines about what it means to run a business and how to go about it in a way that makes you comfortable. 

Leaving a tank unattended for a week – DSP 93

Float tanks are like giant salty babies sometimes. Between water sanitation, temperature control, and filtration…they require a lot of attention and care, and even when you do things perfectly they can still make giant salty messes everywhere. So how do you leave your baby alone for a week? How do you prepare for that? Unlike a human baby, you can take your float tank with you (or at least it’s unlikely).

Choosing a Shower Disinfectant for your float center – DSP 92

A recommendation for a shower cleaner should be a fairly straightforward answer, right? Well… maybe not. Graham and Ashkahn are very particular about the definitions of things like “sanitation” “disinfectant” and other common cleaning terms. In this episode, they take the time to explain what product labels typically mean and what you want to look for when getting a surface cleaner for your float center. 

Be ready to dive in and do some extra reading when getting into this episode. There’s a lot of terminology to parse and clarify. Fortunately, it’s Graham and Ashkahn so they have lots of really clear advice, like “don’t mix bleach and ammonia (or any homemade cleaning product, really)”. 

When Does a Float Start? – DSP 91

Time management and maintaining your schedule is one of the most important quality controls in a float center. If you can’t get people out on time, it can throw off your schedule for the rest of the day. So, when does a float start? How do you measure that time? And what do you do if a floater starts late? Cut off their float? The next persons?

Graham and Ashkahn have been running Float On in a particular way for a long time now, and have particular insights into the challenges of how you manage your schedule.

Tips for filling an empty service schedule – DSP 90

There are fewer things more stress inducing for a float center than seeing their schedule for the week and having it just be completely empty (Maybe watching your pump start up and spray water over your entire float room, but it’s a close call). What do you do in that situation? And how do you prevent it from happening in the future? 

Well, Graham and Ashkahn have tried everything, from doing shout outs and deals on social media, to literally walking down the street trying to convince people to come in and float while the tanks were empty. Some tactics are more effective than others, but what it really comes down, at least in Float On’s case, is being prepared to give out a ton of free floats.

The guys talk about the effectiveness of each strategy they’ve tried and  how they’ve reached out to contacts to form mutually beneficial business relationships and really get the ball rolling with filling up their tanks. 

Latest Blog Posts

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.