South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers

How do homeowners and parents protect children and others from accidentally drowning?

Proper prevention  includes constant and close supervision of pool occupants (especially children) at all times.

However, supervision is not enough on its own.

One of the most dangerous siutations arises when no one is in the pool. This means that 1) the pool is not likely being supervised, and 2) someone, most likely a child, can wander into the pool area without your consent or knowledge. So how do you protect yourself from this liability and prevent others from risk?

When you think of the summer, whether its boating on Lake Murray, swimming at Myrtle Beach, or taking a dip at your local pool, water always comes to mind.

Where there is water, water-related accidents can occur. We offer the following safety suggestions to help keep your summer accident and injury free courtesy of the Mayo Clinic.

 Pool Side Accident Prevention  

Fence it in. Surround your pool with a fence that’s at least 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. Slatted fences should have no gaps wider than 4 inches (10.1 centimeters), so kids can’t squeeze through. Avoid chain-link fences, which can be easy for children to climb.

Make sure that your fence is secure and that the latch to open the gate is child friendly. Install self-closing and self-latching gates with latches that are beyond a child’s reach.

Install an alarm on your home and your pool. If any doors are accessible to your pool, make sure that you have a chime installed so that you will be alerted when someone opens the door.

Add an underwater pool alarm that sounds when something hits the water. Make sure you can hear the alarm inside the house.  It only take a second for an accident to occur and early notification combined with a quick response time could save a life.

Cover your pool and hot tub when they are not in use. Use a rigid, motorized safety cover to block access to the pool when it’s not in use. Cover your hot tubs as well. Don’t allow water to collect on top of the pool or hot tub cover. Remove above-ground pool steps or ladders or lock them behind a fence when the pool isn’t in use.

Take your child to swimming lessons and teach them to swim. Most children can learn to swim at age 5 — but know that swimming lessons won’t necessarily drown-proof a child.

Remove Floats, Toys, Noodles, and Other Distractions from the Pool.  If a child can see it, but can’t reach it, they may be tempted to go in after it. 

Stay alert especially when other adults are present.  While you may think that water related accidents and death are less likely to occur if several adults are present, often the opposite it true.  Never leave children unsupervised near a pool or hot tub. During social gatherings, take turns serving as the “designated watcher,” so that you are never left thinking that someone else is watching your child.

Watch out for drains. Use drain covers, and consider installing multiple drains to reduce the suction.  Body parts, hair, and drawstrings on clothing may become entrapped by the strong suction. Taking preventative measure can reduce the likelihood of injury or death.