Earlier this year, the Orange County Health Department in Florida cited 100 neighborhood hotels and apartments for having deficient pool drains. A list of the properties cited can be found below this article in the Related Web Resources section of the page.
Pool Drains
Pool drains can pose a hazard to swimmers, especially to children, if the drains are not properly covered and do not have the proper shut-off valves. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been numerous accidents in which people have become trapped by the drain at the bottom of a pool or a spa tub. Many of these victims have been children.
A pool drain can create suction that a person can easily get caught in if it is too strong. This can prevent him or her from being able to resurface from the water and may lead to drowning accidents and other serious injuries. Drowning deaths can result when a person’s hair gets stuck in a hot tub drain. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old girl died from injuries she sustained when a swimming pool drain sucked out her intestines.
In December, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act will go into effect. This new law will make it mandatory for all public pools to install the proper drain safety covers and shut-off valves that will prevent people from getting trapped underwater by the suction of a powerful pool or hot tub drain.
The legislation is named after former Secretary of State James Baker’s 7-year-old granddaughter who drowned after getting trapped by the drain of a friend’s hot tub. The suction of the drain was so powerful that efforts to pull her out of the water before she died proved impossible.
Despite the dangers that deficient pool drains pose, an ABC News undercover team reported in July that they discovered that many public pools and hotels across the US have failed to take action to remedy this unsafe condition.
Injuries or death caused by a defective pool drain can be grounds for a products liability or wrongful death lawsuit.
Dangerous Pool Drains Could Trap And Kill Children, WFTV.com, July 28, 2008
ABC News Investigation Finds Dangerous Drains Across the Country, ABC News, July 23, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Disemboweled In Pool, Minn. Girl Dies, Local10.com, March 21, 2008
List of Florida Properties (PDF)
If you or your child was seriously injured because another party was negligent, contact Halberg & Fogg PLLC, Attorneys at Law today.