How to Keep Your Swimming Pool Safe this Summer

 Summer, and with it warmer days are almost here in New York. This is the time of year when pool owners enjoy hosting parties and backyard barbecues. However, it is also the time when there is a high risk of water-related incidents, specifically swimming pool accidents. Nationwide, young children are disproportionately affected when it comes to drowning and near-drowning incidents. This is why it is important, as we transition from spring that we get our backyard pool safe and ready for the busy summer season.

How Serious is the Problem?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2005 and 2014, there were an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drowning incidents annually in the U.S. That amounts to about 10 deaths per day. Approximately one in five victims who die from drowning are children 14 and younger. While fatality rates in swimming pool related incidents vary with age, gender, and race, the highest rates are among children ages 1 to 4. Males are at higher risk than females at all ages.
For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries. More than 50 percent of drowning victims treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care. Even drowning incidents that are nonfatal can cause severe brain damage and may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities as well as being permanently unable to perform basic functions and tasks.
Making Your Swimming Pool Safe
A majority of swimming pool accidents occur in people’s backyards. Property owners and/or property managers can be held liable when a drowning or near-drowning incident occurs on their premises. If you have a swimming pool in your backyard, it is important that you ensure it is safe for anyone who uses it including your family, guests and visitors. This is true for homeowners’ associations, clubs and other entities that open up their swimming pools to the public or their own members and their guests.
Here are a few swimming pool safety tips that will help:
• Reduce the risk. Include several layers of safety starting with four-sided fencing, swimming lessons, life jackets and supervision. Combine several safety measures to effectively reduce the risk of drowning.
• Fencing is extremely important. Installing appropriate pool fencing significantly reduces the risk of drowning. The CDC estimates that more than half of all swimming pool drowning incidents among young children may be prevented by four-sided fencing that completely separates the pool from the house and the yard. The fence should be at least 4 feet high and have self-closing and self-latching gates that open outward. The latches should also be out of reach of children. Above ground or portable pools should also be fenced off as they can pose similar dangers to young children.
• Provide life jackets. Inexperienced swimmers and young children will benefit from wearing properly fitted life jackets. Air-filled or foam toys such as water wings or noodles should not be used in the place of life jackets for flotation support. These are simply toys and are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
• Prevent unintended pool access. Children should never be in or around a pool alone. Barriers to pool access should be used to help prevent young children from gaining access to the pool area by themselves. Four-sided fencing, door locks, gate locks and alarms that are triggered when someone enters the pool area are examples of good barriers.
• Supervision is critical. If you are hosting a gathering or pool party, it is important to have adequate supervision. It is never a bad idea to hire lifeguards to keep an eye on visitors or guests. For clubs and association pools, having a lifeguard and staff members who are trained and certified in CPR is critical.
• Watch out for dangerous drain covers. Look out for loose, missing or broken drain covers. Before you start using the pool for the summer, make sure that your drain covers are in good shape. Drains that are non-compliant with code or damaged can pose entrapment hazards.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a swimming pool or drowning accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com