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Three-Year-Old Dies In Lake City Pool As Swim Season Begins

By Eddie Farah

A three-year-old child drowned Sunday afternoon, May 17, in a swimming pool in the back yard of a home in Lake City. He was scooped from the pool and taken to a local hospital where was pronounced dead. The Columbia County Sheriff's office calls it a tragic accident.

We are sorry for the loss this family must be feeling now and forever.

And now with the Memorial Day holiday here, a federal report by theConsumer Product Safety Commission says nearly 300 children under the age of 5, drown in pools and spas each year. About 3,000 young children suffer injuries related to the pool or spa that require a trip to the emergency room.

Spas and pools are particularly treacherous for toddlers under the age of two, with the majority of drownings occurring in back yard pools and spas.

Florida's Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has taken a lead in this issue, held a news conference with Safe Kids USA to urge home pool owners to check the fencing in place to keep youngsters from gaining access to pool areas. Self-closing, self-latching gates prevent kids from entering a pool area. Alarms alert an adult if someone enters the pool area or even the pool accidentally. Some kids even get out by a pet door- so consider that an area to watch.

Newer and safer drain covers prevent entrapment, where children are sucked into the drain with enough force that even and adult would have trouble breaking free.

Virginia Graeme Baker died that way, and it is for her that the Pool and Spa Safety Act has been funded this year. It requires all public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers and additional systems to prevent entrapment. The state departments of health are enforcing the law.

If you have any questions about what is required visit the CPSC web site www.PoolSafety.gov.

It doesn't take but a minute for a child to slip out of sight and drown. Let's have a summer in Florida without any more of these unfortunate reports. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on May 21, 2009 (boomark / email).