A call to increase the safety of our children (swimming pools)

[pipoman]

What is the 2nd leading preventable cause of accidental death (after auto accidents) of children 0-14? Drowning.

* In 2007, there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 496 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents.1, 2
* More than one in five fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger.1 For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.1
* Nonfatal drownings can cause brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities including memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., ., permanent vegetative state).

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CHILDREN: In 2007, of all children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, almost 30% died from drowning.1 Although drowning rates have slowly declined,1,3 fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years.4

Yep, that's right, drowning. Some of these tragic drownings occur in necessary water holding areas or bodies of water. Of children under 1 year of age, the most common place drowning occurs is in bathtubs, toilets, and buckets. While preventative measures should be taken, bathtubs, buckets and toilets are certainly necessary for daily living, thus an argument can be made that restricting these items may be subject to a cost benefit analysis leaving us with the answer that while tragic, the overall benefit of these items outweighs the risks.

This brings us to the next leading area of danger. Private residential swimming pools. While there are localized restrictions and codes on the construction of residential pools, there are no national restrictions or codes. The CDC lists several suggestions to make residential pools more safe. None are codified as federal law.

LACK OF BARRIERS AND SUPERVISION. Children under one year most often drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets.6 Among children ages 1 to 4 years, most drownings occur in residential swimming pools.6 Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time.7 Barriers, such as pool fencing, can help prevent children from gaining access to the pool area without caregivers’ awareness.8

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* FOUR-SIDED FENCING. Install a four-sided pool fence that completely separates the house and play area of the yard from the pool area. The fence should be at least 4 feet high. Use self-closing and self-latching gates that open outward with latches that are out of reach of children. Also, consider additional barriers such as automatic door locks or alarms to prevent access or notify you if someone enters the pool area.
* CLEAR THE POOL AND DECK OF TOYS. Remove floats, balls and other toys from the pool and surrounding area immediately after use. The presence of these toys may encourage children to enter the pool area unsupervised or lean over the pool and potentially fall in.

The above excerpts can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html

The rate of child death in residential pools has been referenced in Freakonomics as 1 pool death per 11,000 residential swimming pools. This is a shocking number considering other risks responsible for childhood deaths.

http://freakonomicsbook.com/freakonomics/chapter-excerpts/chapter-5/

The tragic accidental drowning deaths of hundreds of children 0-14 is quantified by the CDC in their WISQARS compilation site at 739 in 2007.

What could be done?

We could encourage our lawmakers to enact laws to protect children from this preventable risk.

Four sided fences with locking gates around ALL residential pools.

Hard pool covers required on ALL residential pools.

These ideas would be a start. Without penalties for failure to secure pools when unsupervised or failure to use the pool covers when not in use, these laws would be ineffective. Very few parents/pool owners are prosecuted for child endangerment following the drowning of a child. Responsible parties and pool owners should face criminal prosecution for failure to use these safety devices or for failure to properly supervise children.

Certainly not all of these drownings would be prevented by these measures, but some of the 700+ annual fatalities and countless permanent injuries could be prevented by the enactment of these simple laws and subsequent prosecution of violators IMO.