Consumer Product Safety Commission
How to Plan For the Unexpected:
Preventing Child Drownings
CPSC
Document #359
In some of the nation's sunbelt, drowning has been the leading cause of
accidental death in the home of children under 5 years old. The information
below can help parents and caregivers provide young children with the
protection they deserve.
Each year, nationwide, more than 300 children under 5 years old drown in
residential swimming pools, usually a pool owned by their family. In
addition, more than 2,000 children in that age group are treated in hospital
emergency rooms for submersion injures.
Medical costs for submersion victims during the initial hospitalization
alone can be quite high. Costs can range from an estimated $2,000 for a
victim who recovers fully to $80,000 for a victim with severe brain damage.
Some severely brain damaged victims have initial hospital stays in excess of
120 days and expenses in excess of $150,000.
Many communities have enacted safety regulations governing residential
swimming pools -- inground and aboveground. It's up to parents to comply
with these regulations. Apart from these laws, parents who own pools, can
take their own precautions to reduce the chances of their youngsters
accessing the family pool or spa without adult supervision.
*** FACTS AND FIGURES ***
Following are just a few facts uncovered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) in a comprehensive study of drowning and submersion
incidents involving children under 5 years old in Arizona, California, and
Florida.
 | Seventy-five percent of the
submersion victims studied by CPSC were between I and 3 years old; 65
percent of this group were boys. Toddlers, in particular, often do
something unexpected because their capabilities change daily.
|
| At the time of the incidents, most
victims were being supervised by one or both parents. Forty-six percent of
the victims were last seen in the house; 23 percent were last seen in the
yard or on the porch or patio; and 31 percent were in or around the pool
before the accident. In all, 69 percent of the children were not expected
to be at or in the pool, yet they were found in the water.
|
| Submersion incidents involving
children usually happen in familiar surroundings. Sixty-five percent of
the incidents happened in a pool owned by the child's family and 33
percent o the incidents happened in a pool owned by friends or relatives.
|
| Pool submersions involving children
happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone.
Seventy-seven percent of the victims had been missing from sight for 5
minutes or less.
|
| Survival depends on rescuing the
child quickly and restarting the breathing process, even while the child
is still in the water. Seconds count in preventing death or brain damage.
|
| Child drowning is a silent death.
There's no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble.
|
*** BARRIERS ***
The following barrier recommendations are the result of identifying key
parameters that typically contribute to child drowning in backyard pools.
These recommendations are the minimum steps you can take to make your home a
safe place for your child.
Barriers are not childproof, but they provide layers of protection for a
child who strays from supervision. Barriers give parents additional time to
locate a child before the unexpected becomes a reality.
Barriers include a fence or wall, door alarms for the house, and a power
safety cover over the pool. Barriers also may be used to protect children
from accessing hot tubs and spas. Use the following recommendations as a
guide:
FENCES & GATES
| Install a fence or other barrier, such
as a wall, completely around the pool. If the house is part of the barrier,
the doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with an
alarm or the pool should have a power safety cover. Alarm and cover details
are below.
|
| The fence or other barrier should be
at least 4 feet high. It should have no foot- or handholds that could help a
young child to climb it.
|
| Vertical fence slats should be less
than 4 inches apart to prevent a child from squeezing through.
Use this as a guide when the release
mechanism is located less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate.
 | If horizontal members are equal to
or more than 45 inches apart, vertical spacing shall not exceed 4 inches.
|
| If the fence is chain link, then no
part of the diamond-shaped opening should be larger than 1-3/4 inches.
|
| Fence gates should be self-closing
and self-latching. The gate should be well maintained to close and latch
easily. The latch should be out of a child's reach.
|
| When the release mechanism of the
self-latching device is less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate,
the release mechanism for the gate should be at least 3 inches below the
top of the gate on the side facing the pool. Placing the release mechanism
at this height prevents a young child from reaching over the top of a gate
and releasing the latch. Also, the gate and barrier should have no opening
greater than 1/2 inch within 18 inches of the latch release mechanism.
This prevents a young child from reaching through the gate and releasing
the latch.
|
There are a wide variety of fencing
construction materials available to compliment your house and pool
surroundings. Your local fence company or pool enclosure company can provide
you with information and assist you in making a selection.
The weak link in the strongest and highest fence is a gate that fails to
close and latch completely. For a gate to close completely every time, it
must be in proper working order.
DOOR ALARMS
|
| If the house forms one side of the
barrier, then doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected
with alarms that produce an audible sound when a door is unexpectedly
opened.
|
| Install an alarm that can be
temporarily turned off by an adult for a single opening of the door by using
a keypad or switch that is out of a child's reach.
Battery and electrically powered alarms
are available. The key pad switch can be used by adults who wish to pass
through the door without setting off the alarm. It should be placed high on
all doors leading from the house to the pool. Affordable and easily
installed alarms are available. An alarm signal immediately tells a parent
that a door has been opened.
POWER SAFETY COVERS
| Power safety covers over the pool
may be used as an alternative to door alarms. A power safety cover should
meet the requirements of the ASTM pool cover standard which addresses
labeling requirements and performance. ASTM requires that a cover
withstand the weight of two adults and a child to allow a rescue should an
individual fall onto the cover. The standard also requires quick removal
of water from the cover. A young child can drown in just inches of water.
|
A power safety cover is a motor powered
barrier that can be placed over the water area. Motor-driven covers easily
open and close over the pool. When the power safety cover is properly in
place over the pool, it provides a high level of safety for children under 5
years old by inhibiting their access to the water.
ABOVE-GROUND POOLS
| Steps and ladders leading from the
ground to the pool should be secured and locked, or removed when the pool
is not in use. |
*** RULES FOR POOLS ***
| Instruct babysitters about potential
pool hazards to young children and about the use of protective devices,
such as door alarms and latches. Emphasize the need for constant
supervision. |
| Never leave a child unsupervised
near a pool. During social gatherings at or near a pool, appoint a
"designated watcher" to protect young children from pool accidents. Adults
may take turns being the "watcher." When adults become preoccupied,
children are at risk.
|
| If a child is missing, check the
pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability. Go to the
edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom and surface, as well as
the pool area.
|
| Do not allow a young child in the
pool without an adult.
|
| Do not consider young children to be
drownproof because they have had swimming lessons. Children must be
watched closely while swimming.
|
| Do not use flotation devices as a
substitute for supervision.
|
| Learn CPR (cardiopulmonary
resuscitation). Babysitters and other caretakers, such as grandparents and
older siblings, should also know CPR.
|
| Keep rescue equipment by the pool.
Be sure a telephone is poolside with emergency numbers posted nearby.
|
| Remove toys from in and around the
pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children to the pool.
|
| Never prop open the gate to a pool
barrier. |
NOTE: To obtain detailed barrier
recommendations, write CPSC, Pool Barriers, Office of Information & Public
Affairs, Washington, DC 20207.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from the
unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products
under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a
product-related injury, you can go to
CPSC's forms
page and use the first on-line form on that
page. Or, you can call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's
teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or send the information to
info@cpsc.gov.
Consumers can obtain this publication and additional publication information
from the
Publications section
of CPSC's web site or by sending your publication request to
publications@cpsc.gov. If you would like to
receive CPSC's recall notices, subscribing to the email list will send all
press releases to you the day they are issued.
This document is in the public domain. It may be reproduced without change
in part or whole by an individual or organization without permission. If it
is reproduced, however, the Commission would appreciate knowing how it is
used. Write the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of
Information and Public Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20207 or send an e-mail to
info@cpsc.gov. |
|
