The Following is from the National Safety Council and was
posted on May 13, 2000
Parents should encourage their children to "stop, watch and walk into
the water," the USLA advises, because "perhaps more than any other
trauma injury, [spinal injuries] can have severe lifelong consequences."
Pool- and beach-goers should take even the most unlikely precautions. In June
1998, as many as a dozen children were contaminated with the E. coli bacteria at
an Atlanta water park, and one child died. The incident marked the first time
that E. coli was reported in a public pool, and it was believed to have been
caused by a sick child with diarrhea. According to the National Spa and Pool
Institute, chlorine and other disinfectants generally destroy bacteria, but the
levels should be monitored and should adhere to state standards. Additionally,
toddlers should wear swim diapers designed to contain urine and feces.
WARNING: This story is quite graphic and can be
upsetting to some - please use caution and discretion when reading this
A child screamed. She appeared to be stuck, sitting and squirming in the
middle of the hotel’s wading pool. Adults rushed to her through the shallow
water. Her bottom covered the drain opening. The resulting ruptured her rectum—she
was being disemboweled. Fortunately, the six-year-old didn’t die, but her
injuries were irreversible.
An inspection of the wading pool revealed the drain
cover missing. Later, investigators the hotel had no wading-pool inspection
procedures. No previous inspection reports had ever been filed.
Common law mandates a hotel must exercise reasonable care for the safety of
its guests, which includes children. Negligence is found when a hotel’s
failure to exercise reasonable care is the proximate cause of a guest’s
injuries. In my opinion, most jurors would conclude "reasonable care"
mandates routine pool and spa inspections by competent personnel.
Unfastened, broken or missing drain covers can kill children. Kids like to
stick their hands or feet in drainpipes while playing and
they can be trapped by the suction. According to the U.S. Consumer Products
Safety Commission, body entrapment incidents have resulted
in drowning deaths in both pools and spas.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW Pool and Beach Safety Tips
CPSC Issues Warning for Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U. S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is alerting consumers and public health
officials to steps they can take to reduce entrapment deaths
and injuries associated with pools, spas, and hot tubs.
The main hazard from hot tubs and spas is the same as that
from pools -- drowning. Since 1980, CPSC has reports of more
than 700 deaths in spas and hot tubs. About one-third of
those were drownings to children under age five.
Other hazards include body part entrapment and hair
Since 1980, CPSC knows of 18 incidents, including five
deaths, involving children between the ages of two and 14
who were injured or died due to body part entrapment
involving the drain of a swimming pool, wading pool, or spa.
In addition, last week, a 16-year-old New Jersey girl
drowned when her body was sucked down against a drain on the
bottom of a spa. Her body apparently formed a vacuum seal
against an outlet for circulating water and she was held
Under normal conditions, pipes leading from a pool's drain,
or into the pool's pumps, draw water from the pool creating
suction. If something blocks the pool drain leading into
this pipe, the amount of suction will increase as the pump
draws water past the obstruction. This increased suction can
entrap parts of a person's body, causing the person to be
held underwater. In wading pools, if a child sits on the
drain outlet, the suction can cause disembowelment.
To reduce the risk of entrapment and drowning, current
safety standards require that each spa have two outlets for
each pump, lessening the amount of suction at any single
Since 1978, CPSC has reports of 49 incidents (including 13
deaths) in which people's hair was sucked into the suction
fitting of a spa, hot tub, or whirlpool, causing the
victim's head to be held under water. Hair entanglement
occurs when a bather's hair becomes entangled in a drain
cover as the water and hair are drawn through the drain.
CPSC helped develop a voluntary standard for drain covers
that reduce the risk of hair entanglement.
CPSC offers the following safety tips when using a hot tub,
spa, or whirlpool:
- Always use a locked safety cover when the spa is not
in use and keep young children away from spas or hot
tubs unless there is constant adult supervision.
- Make sure the spa has the dual drains and drain covers
required by current safety standards.
- Regularly have a professional check your spa or hot
tub and make sure it is in good, safe working condition,
and that drain covers are in place and not cracked or
missing. Check the drain covers yourself throughout the
- Know where the cut-off switch for your pump is so you
can turn it off in an emergency.
- Be aware that consuming alcohol while using a spa
could lead to drowning.
- Keep the temperature of the water in the spa at 104
degrees Fahrenheit or below.
The foregoing warning was released by the Consumer
Product Safety Commission on June 3, 1996.
CPSC Warning On Drain Grates Of Wading Pools
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission today issued an alert to warn consumers of the
risk of disembowelment to children associated with broken
grates or missing drain grates on in-ground wading pools.
The Commission is aware of at least five tragic incidents
involving children who sat on drain holes and were trapped.
The children's intestines were then sucked from their
A 4-year old Pennsylvania boy suffered permanent injury
when he lost 75-80% of his small intestine and his appendix
while sitting on a drain hole at a private community wading
pool. The grate (cover) to the drain hole had been broken
and removed from the pool the day before the accident. In a
similar incident in Birmingham, Alabama a 4-year old girl
was trapped over a drain hole, and was released from the
drain suction only after the wading pool's pump was turned
off. Examination revealed that the child's intestines had
been sucked from her body.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is
investigating these and similar incidents and will take such
actions as are needed to prevent further injuries. The
Commission is also alerting state and local governments
regarding this hazard. The Commission has discussed the
potential hazard with the National Spa and Pool Institute (NSPI)
and that organization supports CPSC's efforts to alert the
Each of the wading pools involved in accidents
investigated has a pump that draws the water from the base
of the wading pool through the drain hole to the filtering
system and then returns the water to the pool. Children are
attracted to the hole itself and the sucking action of the
drain. The Commission urges parents to closely supervise
children using wading pools and not allow them to play with
drain holes or covers. The Commission and NSPI urges pool
owners, managers and lifeguards to follow a list of
precautions issued by the National Spa and Pool Institute as
part of the organization's industry standard:
- Shut down the facility if the drain cover is broken,
damaged or missing
- Immediately replace or repair broken or missing-drain
- Inspect the drain covers (grates) daily to be certain
that grates are in good condition, and cannot be removed
without the use of tools
- Operators, lifeguards and other pool personnel must
know where pump shut-off switches are and have ready
access to them
The foregoing warning was issued by the Consumer
Product Safety Commission on August 9, 1982.
CPSC Warns about Pool Hazards, Reports
250 Deaths of Young Children Annually - Federal Agency Launches
Drowning Prevention Initiative, Holding Public Hearings
CPSC, Industry & Safety Groups Mark Baby
Safety Month with Drowning Prevention Campaign
Don't Swim With Shocks - CPSC, American Red Cross Warn of
Electrocutions in Swimming Pools, Hot Tubs and Spas
Pools and Parasites- Keeping Your Child Safe - The Children's Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation (CDHNF) Warns Parents about Dangerous Waterborne Bacteria and Parasites Peak During Late Summer
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