The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that nearly 300 kids 4 ages 4 and under are killed in pool and spa accidents a year, while some 3,000 others are injured. More than 50% of the child victims are under 3 years of age. 80% of fatal drowning accidents involving child victims occur in spas and pools in private residences.
With summer approaching, these disturbing figures are an important reminder of why pool and spa owners and operators need to make sure that kids are properly supervised in the pool area and that fencing is placed around the pool or spa to prevent children from getting into the water when no one is around. It’s also time for the owners and managers of public pools and spas to replace their pool drain cover with the newer, safer drain cover mandated under the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.
This new law requires all public pools and spas to be fitted with the anti-entrapment drain cover and when applicable, the anti-entrapment system. According to the CPSC, 11 people were killed and 69 others were injured in spa and pool entrapment accidents. The new drain covers are supposed to prevent the drain from attaching to a person’s body part or bathing suit, causing the suction to hold the victim under water until he or she drowns. Kids are especially susceptible to becoming the victim of pool entrapment accidents.
Drowning also continues to be a huge problem affecting kids, with children younger than 14 making up more than one in four deadly drownings. Victims that do survive near-drowning accidents will sometimes sustain traumatic brain injuries that could impair them for life.
If your child is injured or killed in a spa or pool on someone else’s premise, you may have grounds for filing a Boston premises liability complaintor a Massachusetts products liability lawsuit, including:
• Improper supervision • Lifeguard failure • Defective pool drain • Inadequate fencing around pool • Lack of emergency/rescue equipment • Wrongful death
CPSC Announces New Report on Child Drownings and Near-drownings in Pools and Spas
Related Web Resources:
Read the 2009 Report , CPSC (PDF)
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (PDF)
Pool Safety
Contact our Boston personal injury law firm about your case.