In America, about 300 children under 5 years of age are victims of pool deaths and about 2,000 of them are injured in swimming pools. Swimming pool accidents are not an unusual thing and occur due to an ill-designed pool, ill-maintained pool, absence of safety equipment and lifeguards, incorrect or lack of pool markings, inadequate pool depth, and others. Sometimes, mishaps take a horrible turn when there are incompetent personnel present around the pool who do not know how to handle an emergency or avert an accident.
Who Is Responsible For Swimming Pool Deaths?
When a pool death occurs, the finger is pointed directly to the incompetent personnel, who failed to rescue the injured in time or who were absent from the site when the accident occurred.
People who could be liable for accidents indirectly are manufacturers of pool and its equipment, pool retailers, installers and distributors, owner of the property, owner of the hotel, building, resort, school, private club employees where the pool is located, municipality officials, youth or infant caretakers, supervisory personnel, and medical mismanagement.
Remember: the presence of someone around the pool doesn’t mean that you, as an owner of the pool, can relax. The presence of an untrained person is no good than the absence of a lifeguard. So, make sure that there are competent personnel around the pool who are apt in handling rescue operations and emergencies.
Do you know that a drowning person hardly shouts for help? This is because all their energy is focused on trying to breathe and keeping afloat. An untrained person would never know this whereas a competent personnel or lifeguard would, at once, recognize the distressful situation of the person in water.
Pool Germs Can Kill Too!
It is the duty of the personnel to change the water of the pool. Don’t think that pool deaths are caused only by protruding water pipes underwater or faulty equipment. Contaminated pool water is deadly too. E.coli and other bacteria thrive in unchanged water of the pool leading to serous injuries, which may prove to be fatal. Some of the contaminants include urination watery diarrhea, and other germs that are washed off the swimmer’s bottoms.
Although chlorine wipes off most of the germs, there are some stubborn ones that survive the normal levels of chlorine for many hours and days. Unless you maintain the correct level of chlorine, your pool can become the breeding ground for germs resulting in serious diseases and injuries to the swimmers. The attendant personnel are responsible for supplying the pool with fresh water and adding chlorine in it.
Besides these swimming pool safety measures; oxygen mask, telephone, and medical staff are a must to make pool deaths impossible in your pool.
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