Personal Injury Law

Just in time for summer & Memorial Day ? Pool safety tips

Last year, the Illinois personal injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti read about too many heart wrenching cases of injured children involving dangerous pools. These injuries to children could have been prevented! Many children who drown in swimming pools were not neglected ? they had only been seen moments before. Unlike what some people may expect, drowning is a silent killer. Water fills a drowned person?s air passages so they are unable to make a sound or scream for help. Unfortunately, fifteen percent of children admitted for near-drowning die in the hospital. Recently, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about pool safety tips and we wanted to highlight some of the suggestions to our readers.

In order to avoid such tragedy, you should always watch children closely; never leave them alone, even for a moment. Remove all toys from the pool after everyone is out so children aren't tempted to reach for them. You should also consider installing a fence that rises at least four-feet high around the pool. In order to work most effectively, the fence should separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. You want to use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach. You should also install door locks and alarms ? the lock should be high enough that it would make it difficult for a child to get out. Additionally, a pool alarm will notify you if someone has gotten into your pool, even neighborhood kids. Be sure to keep safety rescue equipment and a telephone by the pool. Of course, call 911 immediately in an emergency.

For more information about pool safety.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on May 31, 2010 (boomark / email).