• CDC Statistics
• 10 Commandments for Aquatic Safety in Swimming Pools
• Swimming Pool Safety for Small Children

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowning is a leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4, and the fifth leading cause of unintentional injury death for people of all ages.  Males are at a higher risk of drowning than females at all ages. For children ages 1 to 4, swimming pools pose the greatest risk of submersion injury. 

For every child less than 15 years old who dies from drowning in a pool, another 10 receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.  Nonfatal drowning can cause brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities including memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functions.

More children die of aquatic injuries every year than any other form of traumatic injury. Injuries around water are generally devastating. At Pellettieri, Rabstein and Altman, we’ve handled many cases of aquatic injuries, which could have been avoided with proper preventative measures in place.

1. Insist on life vests for non-swimmers: Anyone who cannot swim or stand safely in your pool should wear one or use a certified inflatable device.
2. No diving off the edge: Most pools have no depth markings, identifying when you are in the deep end. That transition slope is hard to see and can cause a broken neck if one hits his/her head on it.
3. No diving in any above ground swimming pool: Be sure there are adequate warnings to advise your family and guests that this is a NO DIVING POOL and they risk serious neck injury if they dive.
4. Never go down any waterslide headfirst: Water levels at the tip of the flume often fall due to dehydration and lack of attentiveness on those charged with insuring that the water back flows into the slide, to slow your body down. If the water drops too low, you risk severe injury because the pools are shallow to accommodate all ages, sizes and shapes.
5. Install proper safety fencing: Most children who drown in a pool are neighbors, not your children. Contact your township to be sure the fencing around your pool complies with codes and ordinances.
6. Install alarms and motion detectors: Check with your town for existing ordinances governing these devices that keep unwary parents alert to wandering children. For above ground pools, make sure the ladder can be lifted up to prevent unsupervised entry.
7. Remove private waterslides from your pool: With so many more broken necks associated with waterslides, the Consumer Products Safety Commission engaged in a massive study to warn the public of their hazards. Remove slides from your pool immediately.
8. No diving boards on residential pools: Young athletic swimmers can easily strike the transition slope when diving off a board in a residential pool. Removing it will prevent injury.
9. Use Pool Lights for Night Swimming: Install them if you don’t have them.
10. Know the Water’s Terrain: Teach your children to always dive shallow and to steer up as they enter any body of water and to NEVER dive if they do not know the depth or the terrain underneath..

We’ve represented many people, winning millions of dollars in these types of cases. But no award will recover the lives lost or the pain the families suffer in cases of permanent disability or loss of a loved one. Be Safe.

Ms. Anne P. McHugh, Esq. is an attorney in the Princeton-based law firm of Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman and specializes in general litigation and personal injury cases; she has represented hundreds of children and adults suffering broken necks and other severe aquatic related injuries.  For more information, visit http://www.pralaw.com.

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Hundreds of small children drown in residential swimming pools each year and thousands more end up in the hospital emergency room after near drowning incidents, with many of them sustaining permanent brain damage. Of course, the main objective most homeowners have in mind when installing a pool in the backyard is to create a fun and enjoyable space for their children to play. Unfortunately, as hard as we try to avoid them, accidents do happen. But there are several common sense swimming pool safety tips that can substantially reduce the risk of accidental drowning.

Pool Fencing - have a child safety pool fence professionally installed that is specifically designed for the prevention of accidental drowning. Make sure the fence includes a self-closing, self-latching gate.

Pool Alarm - install a pool alarm that detects movement in the pool water. This device sounds an alarm when someone or something enters the water or if the alarm is removed from the pool. The alarm can be activated when the pool is not in use and de-activated by an adult when it is time to use the pool.

Floatation Devices - floatation devices are great for helping small children deal with the fear of water, but they should never be used as a substitute for adult supervision.

Pool Cover Danger - never allow children to swim in a pool with a pool cover on or partially removed. Don't risk the chance that a child will try to swim under the cover and get into a panic or become disoriented, leading to a drowning.

Turn Off Pool Equipment - to avoid any possible entanglement with the pool drain or any suction device in the pool, it is always a good idea to turn the pool equipment off while swimming.

Supervision - even if you follow every one of the tips discussed above, the number one rule that should prevent 99.99 percent of accidental residential swimming pool drowning accidents is Adult Supervision at ALL times. There is no substitute for full-time, deliberate, and focused adult supervision. Make sure to avoid any and all distractions such as phone calls, discussions with neighbors, or attending to other children. If these other issues need attention, ask all swimmers to get out of the pool first.

Every pool owner's worst nightmare is having a child drown in the swimming pool. A common sense approach to avoiding such a tragedy is to invest the necessary time and money to incorporate modern pool safety measures into your backyard swimming pool environment. Also, establish and post strict safety rules to be followed by all swimmers and review these rules each and every time friends and family visit for a swim.

David Franics has been a professional in the swimming pool service industry in Northern California since 2002. He has serviced hundreds of different residential swimming pools and writes articles about his swimming pool maintenance experience in order to help do-it-yourself pool owners tackle the many different problems that go along with owning a swimming pool. Visit the website to view more articles on swimming pool safety.

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