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Pool Safety, Swimming and Diving Accidents

With another hot summer on the way, the personal injury team of Breit, Drescher & Imprevento, P.C. wants to remind people about some of the risks that exist for adult and child swimmers alike, and things to be mindful of to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable summer in 2005.

When accidents do occur in a residential or municipal pool, and injury or death is the result, it’s important to explain the facts of your situation to an experienced attorney that has previously helped families in the same situation. The personal injury attorneys of Breit Drescher & Imprevento, P.C., have helped many families in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and throughout the Tidewater region deal with the legal obstacles that sometimes face swimming-related injury claims. If you or a loved one has suffered head or spinal cord injuries as a result of a diving accident or near drowning accident; or if you’ve lost a child or loved one in a drowning accident, contact our personal injury offices today.

Diving Accidents and Injuries

Diving injuries often involve damage to the head or spinal cord. These injuries are caused in two ways: diving into a pool that is too shallow, or injuring oneself on a diving board. Diving accidents are a significant cause of spinal cord injuries, and are responsible for about 10 per cent of spinal cord injury victims. Pool owners have an obligation to ensure that the depth levels of their pools are well marked and that swimmers only dive in designated areas.

Preventing Pool Drowning and Near-Drowning

If you are a parent or spend much time around kids, you already know that kids under 5 like to wander and explore. As much as we’d like to, we can’t always keep them in our line of sight. We also know that they don’t always listen to us. The best way to stop young kids from going to places you don’t want them to go is by setting up barriers. Stairway gates and locks take care of this need inside the home.

Pools are no different. 7 in 10 drowning accidents among children under 5 occur when they have no supervision. By erecting gates and barriers completely around the pool, you greatly reduce the possibility of a child entering unsafe areas around your pool without your knowledge. As much as children like to explore, they also don’t want to endanger themselves. Often, seeing a gate or barrier around an area makes a much more powerful impression on children than anything you can tell them.

The CPSC provides more extensive guidelines for keeping residential in-ground pools and above ground pools properly fenced and gated.

Prevent Drain Entrapment Accidents

Pool and spas have powerful draining systems that are used to filter several hundred gallons of pool water everyday. Drains have the pulling power to hold a grown man under water, and when hair, bracelets, toes, fingers or bathing suits get trapped in a drain, this can lead to serious drowning hazards for both adults and young children.

While not as prevalent as diving and other types of drowning accidents, drain entrapment accidents do occur. New construction pools with gutter systems no longer require open drains, and older pool drains can be equipped with tamper-resistant covers.

For more information about drowning accidents and how to prevent them, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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