Each year in the United States, approximately 300 children under the age of 5 drown in swimming pools. Emergency room treatment is required for 2,000 children each year under the age of 5 due to being submerged in a residential swimming pool. Seventy-five percent of the children who drowned or were treated for submersion were between the ages of 1 and 3. The majority of swimming pool victims were being supervised by one or both parents when the accident occurred.
Most of the swimming pool drownings or submersions occurred in a child’s family’s or friend’s pool. Less than two percent of the accidents occurred as a result of a child trespassing on a stranger’s property.
The speed with which a drowning can occur is astonishing – 77 percent of swimming pool drowning victims had been gone less than 5 minutes. In addition, these are typically silent deaths. There is unlikely to be splashing or yelling that could alert adults to the danger.
How do you keep your swimming pool safe? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests that a pool barrier should be at least 48 inches high to prevent young children from climbing over it. If the barrier is a fence, there should be no more than 1 ¾ inches between each post. The bottom of the fence should have no more than a 4 inch gap to prevent children from climbing under it. If a door to the house gives immediate access to a pool, the door should be equipped with an alarm that will sound within 7 seconds after the door is open.
Far too many children die each year in swimming pool accidents. If your child or a child you care about has been the victim of a swimming pool accident, you have rights that deserve to be protected by a swimming pool accident lawyer. Contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer”, today at 877-228-4878 for your free consultation.