Kings Island uses the Ellis program and it is required that every month they do something called "zone validations." this is where they take the doll and drop it every few steps to basically make sure the lifeguard would be able to spot any person in distress anywhere around their zone. They have to make sure that there aren't any blind spots anywhere in the river. If a guard is being VAT tested (vigilance awareness training) the guard MUST respond to any doll dropped around their zone. if they fail to recognize and rescue the doll, they fail and are put through another test at a different time. If the guards are zone validating they will inform the lifeguard on stand that they are not being tested and to ignore it.
