Swimming Pool Accidents and Drowning

Among the most devastating and gruesome pool accident injury and pool-related death cases are defective drain entrapment cases.

Innocent children and young adults have literally been disemboweled – intestines and colon and rectum ripped from their bodies – by powerful suction pumps and single drain pool and single drain spa configurations. These drain entrapment injuries occur in older swimming pools and spas that have only one drain -- also called single drain pool, single drain spa, single drain hot tub.

Spa Drain Entrapment Injury

When the child inadvertently sits on the spa drain or draining device, it creates a vacuum, and the suction from the pump keeps pulling and hyper-suction of any blockage, including a child’s body. As a result, children die from drowning or blood and organ loss.

Even in these instances where the child survives, the catastrophic lifetime challenges are beyond fair description.  These child victims of spa drain entrapment accidents require extensive hospitalization, multiple reconstructive surgeries, lifetime care needs, and force these children pool injury victims to live on feeding tubes and colostomy care for the remainder of their lives.

Pools that have one drain outlet are defective, illegal, and hazardous.  They represent a hidden and deadly danger for everyone.  Every swimming pool should have dual drains, so if one is blocked, the other keeps functioning as a failsafe. The dual drains diffuse the force and suction power that trap children. Dual drains eliminate the danger of the vacuum power holding youngsters down in the water and catastrophic injuries of death that are sure to follow such a tragic event.

There are now federal regulations requiring dual drains for all pools, spas, and hot tubs, and other safety measures for older pools.

Solar Blankets and Pool Covers

These hazards can be tempting for any children to hunch down and play with at the swimming pool’s edge. Within moments, the child can fall into the pool and become entangled or wrapped in the blanket or cover. The results can be catastrophic.
 

A pool diving accident often results in catastrophic spinal cord injury, including quadriplegia, paralysis, and death.

Because there is not sufficient angle for a diver to recover to avoid striking the bottom, the result is often tragic. Divers strike their head on the bottom of the pool, breaking their necks. This can and too often does lead to paralysis, such as quadriplegia or paraplegia. If no one is present to help the inured diver, then drowning is an added high risk.  Residential pools are defectively designed for diving.  No one should ever dive into a residential pool.

Please incorporate any or all of these safety precautions into your family pool safety plan:

• The fencing should entirely enclose the pool and spa.
  
  
• Install motion detectors.
  
  
• Become certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This usually takes only a few classes offered at your local YWCA, YMCA, high school, or college
  
  
• Install door alarms, required on new homes built since 2003 in Florida, on all doors that open onto a pool deck, patio, or lanai.
  
  
• PROHIBIT ALL DIVING.