Michael Oostman

Michael Oostman has over 34 years of consulting experience in the aquatic industry. From 1998 to 2004, he served as an aquatic safety consultant for Walt Disney World, training approximately 1,500 to 2,000 lifeguards annually. In 2004, Oostman founded Oostman Aquatic Safety Consulting to offer specialized resources to the aquatic, legal, and insurance sectors. Oostman has conducted more than 1,000 drowning investigations, utilizing analytical methodologies to uncover causative factors and develop actionable remedies. In addition, he serves as a forensic expert witness, leveraging his extensive expertise to support legal proceedings. He is also dedicated to educating the aquatics industry through curriculum-based training programs. Oostman has a Master’s degree in Forensic Psychology and is a PhD student in Applied Experimental Psychology with an emphasis on Human Factors at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Oostman’s dissertation/research is focused on the temporal constraints on drowning detection within an applied human factors analysis of perceptual limitations and time-to-recognition as well as the construct of supervision around water.