Pool Safety: Watch Your Children

Tess Langfus, Contributing Writer

Owning a pool carries tremendous responsibilities -- not the least of which is ensuring children's safety.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 350 children under age 5 drown each year in residential pools nationwide, a figure that has remained fairly constant in the last several years. Thousands more children are treated each year for near-drowning accidents.

Most deaths and accidents occur in the child's own back yard pool, even with an adult just yards away. Pools are especially hazardous around young children who are mobile and curious about everything.

"This is the dangerous age, between 1 and 5 -- especially the 2- and 3-year-olds. They have no idea of risk," says Marcia Kerr, consumer information officer at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Drowning is known as "the silent killer" since children rarely splash or call out, so even a few minutes of inattentiveness can cost your child's life.

"The little kids don't have a chance to cry out, it just happens so suddenly," Kerr says.

Kerr knows firsthand the hazards of mixing swimming pools with toddlers. Her son, Cody, died nearly 14 years ago just after his second birthday when he wandered outside after awaking from his nap. Themselves in the pool business, Kerr and her husband, Bill, relied on the protection of their automatic pool cover and considered a fence around their pool unnecessary. But that April day, they had instructed their nanny to leave the pool cover off to allow the freshly added chlorine to dissipate.

"It was horrible, stupid information to tell someone. It's a safety device, you don't leave it off," Kerr says. "We were following our own advice, and of course it cost our son's life, because about 15 minutes before the nanny was supposed to put the cover back on, [Cody] got out."

Adult Supervision Is Irreplaceable

Most deaths and accidents that occur in residential pools are preventable and happen because of insufficient supervision, says Dr. Marilyn Bull, professor of pediatrics at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Children should never be allowed in or near the pool without adult supervision and essential safety devices such as a portable phone, shepherd's hook, and life ring. Even teenagers should be monitored as they often overestimate their swimming abilities, take unsafe risks, and sometimes experiment with drugs and alcohol while using the pool.

Parents whose young children receive swimming instruction might be more lax about the dangers of a pool. But Bull, who is also the chairperson of the Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention for the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasized the academy's findings that children under the age of 4 have limited neuromuscular ability and cannot be taught how to swim.

"[Swimming] programs that claim to make children safe in the water or safe from drowning are really misrepresenting what is possible," Bull says. "They're giving the parents a false sense of security about the child's safety in the water."

The AAP recommends the touch supervision method, namely keeping within touching distance of children at least through the age of 5.

Also, any adult or teenager who has access to the pool should be trained yearly in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other lifesaving techniques. And when the pool is not in use, homeowners must enforce second and third layers of protection to ensure their children's safety.

Safety In Landscaping

Safety precautions must start even before you begin digging the hole for your backyard pool.

Consider the proximity of the pool to your house. Is it so close to your second-story deck that pool users might be tempted to jump from the deck into the pool? Are there overhanging trees that might provide the same temptation? Voice your concerns to your landscaper and pool builder when architectural plans are developed.

Be cautious as well when adding finishing touches to your landscaping. Any landscaping done should not create a blind spot to the pool. Avoid building the pool fence close to large rocks or low-setting structures that can be climbed by uninvited guests.

Remember, your pool is considered an attractive nuisance in the legal and insurance worlds -- for passers-by that twinkling body of water is just as tempting as a dangling carrot in front of a race horse. Any accidents that occur in your pool, regardless of whether the guests are invited, are your responsibility.

Waterfalls can be another safety hazard for small children, Kerr says, and should also be enclosed with a fence. It only takes a few inches of water to drown a child, and gurgling waterfalls can be just as tempting as your pool.

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