Chicago Premises Liability During Swimming Season: CPSC Offers Advice on Preventing Pool and Spa Drownings
Every year, about 300 kids under age 5 drown in pools and spas, while nearly 3,000 others sustain injuries that require emergency room care. Many victims that survive drowning accidents end up sustaining permanent injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently issued these latest drowning statistics just in time for the swimming season. The CPSC wants to remind pool owners and supervisors to exercise the necessary precautions to prevent drowning accidents from happening.
80% of child drowning fatalities occur in residential settings. And a premise owner can be held liable for personal injuries if he or she failed to implement the proper safety measures that could have prevented a drowning accident from happening, such as (from the CPSC):
• Making sure that there is adult supervision any time there are children in the pool or spa.
• Installing a four-sided barrier with self-closing gates around the spa or pool.
• Installing safety covers or alarms.
• Knowing basic water rescue techniques.
• Keeping first aid and rescue equipment close by.
One common cause of drowning accidents is drain entrapment, which has been known to occur in residential pools and spas, as well as in public pools and spas. While older drains were designed in such a way that a person’s hair or clothing or another body part could easily get suctioned into the pool or spa drain (causing a potentially fatal drowning accident if the victim got pulled underwater and was unable surface), there are now new drain covers designed so that such incidents cannot happen.
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act went into effect last December and requires all public pools and spas to be fitted with these newly designed drain covers. The CPSC says that in-ground spas with the older drains and children’s wading pools pose the greatest risk of evisceration and entrapment. Since 1999, 69 people have been injured and 11 others killed due to drain suction.
If your child was injured by a defective pool drain or drowned because the pool owner failed to implement the proper safety measures at a pool or spa, you may have grounds for filing a Chicago personal injury lawsuit claiming products liability, injuries to minors, or wrongful death.
CPSC Announces New Report on Child Drownings and Near-drownings in Pools and Spas, CPSC, May 21, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Starts with You!, PoolSafety.gov
Pool Season Begins in Illinois – Enjoy the Water, But Be Safe, eNews Park Forest, May 18, 2009
Pool Safety Report, CPSC, May 2009
Contact Chicago personal injury lawyer Steve Malman today.
