Look For These Safety Measures In Or Around Residential Pools

Let’s say that you have a young child, and your child is invited to a friend’s house to play in the pool. It seems very safe; your child is a strong swimmer, and you consider the other family to be responsible. But have you considered all of the potential dangers, and the safety measures, in residential pools?

Pools Can be Dangerous

Because they are everywhere, we tend to forget how inherently dangerous pools can be; they are large bodies of water—water that often goes way higher than the height of the children that are playing inside of them.

Roughhousing, diving and play are common, and making matters worse, the area around the pool itself is often soaking wet, or littered with pool toys, towels or other items that kids tend to leave around. The adult supervision of the pool in a home is good, but those adults are not trained lifeguards.

Look for These Safety Measures

So how can you ensure that the pool that your child is playing in is as safe as it can be? Here are some basic safety measures that you should look for when it comes to finding a safe residential pool.

Barriers – Pools are dangerous even when the kids aren’t using them; accidental falls into a pool can be deadly. Kids can fall if they are just playing around the pool, and very young kids can just fall in accidentally.

That’s why a netted barrier is a must for pool safety. These barriers often anchor into the ground with poles that go into small holes in the ground. Note that the netting needs to be anchored; just a loose net barrier, unanchored, can be even more dangerous, as kids can walk or bump into them, get tangled in them, and fall in the pool, wrapped in the netting.

Drains – There have been catastrophic injuries because of pool drains. These drains suction water into them, but they can also suction in small limbs as well (and even adult limbs, although adults are more likely to be strong enough to escape them). Kids can easily drown when they are suctioned into the pool drain. Today, many drains have security features that shield drains, but older pools may not.

Protection Devices – Modern technology has provided valuable safety features that pools can be equipped with. There are devices that can alert people with an alarm, when someone falls into the pool, as well as motion detectors which sound when someone gets within a certain proximity of the pool. Many are loud enough and fast enough that people can get to someone who has fallen into the pool, because they are seriously injured.

Remember that a pool is not a babysitter or a substitute for adult supervision; make sure that your child is being watched by a responsible adult at all times when playing in someone else’s pool.

Call the West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys at Pike & Lustig today for help with your injury case if you are injured in or around a pool.

Sources:

poolsafely.gov/pool-spa-safety/staying-safe-pools-spas/residential-swimming-pools/

redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety/home-pool-safety.html