Wading and inflatable pools are a drowning hazard. Here’s how to keep your kids safe
With the Fourth of July lurking around the corner, wading and inflatable pools will likely be of great use, especially as some beaches and community pools remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But it’s important to keep in mind that drowning is an often silent and rapid killer that prefers no body of water over another.
What may seem like a safer alternative for children is actually a big risk that goes largely unnoticed.
“When we think of pool risks, we think of the big pools, complete with deep ends, diving boards and swim parties,” Dr. Nina Shapiro, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Mattel Children’s Hospital of the University of California, Los Angeles, told CBS News.
“But more than 10 percent of pool-related deaths in young children occur in what are best known as ‘kiddie pools.’ These include inflatables, plastic wading pools and larger above-ground pools.”
“There is no magic bullet to prevent these horrors. So stock your safety arsenal with layers of prevention so that summer fun doesn’t turn tragic,” Shapiro told the outlet.
The culprit? Poor supervision or a lack fencing or other safety covers.
How often does this happen?
Every day, about 10 people die from “unintentional drowning,” and of these, two are children below the age of 14, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Children between 1 and 4 years old have the highest drowning rates, with most of these occurring in home swimming pools, the CDC says. And for every child who dies from drowning, another five are injured from accidental submersion.
“These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning,” according to the agency.
Between 2001 and 2009, there were 209 fatal drownings in the U.S. in wading and inflatable pools of children younger than 12 years old reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, a 2011 study published in the journal Pediatrics said.
About 94% of the drownings involved children younger than 5 years old, 56% involved boys, 73% happened in the child’s yard and 81% occurred during the summer, the study said.
And most of these deaths happened in water that was just 1.5 to 2 feet deep.
In one case, two unsupervised 9-year-olds jumped into an inflatable pool with a cover over it, became entangled in the material and drowned, the researchers said. Another incident involved unsupervised 3-year-old twins who unlocked the door to their home, ran away and later drowned in a 4-foot-deep pool in their neighbor’s yard.
How to prevent accidental drownings
The researchers say that if fencing had been secured around the bodies of water, at least 48 deaths may have been prevented.
The CDC recommends building barriers to prevent children from accessing pool areas without their guardians’ awareness. The agency also suggests removing “floats, balls and other toys from the pool and surrounding area immediately after use so children are not tempted to enter the pool area unsupervised.”
“Drowning can happen quickly and quietly anywhere there is water (such as bathtubs, swimming pools, buckets), and even in the presence of lifeguards,” the CDC says.
Christi Brown agrees.
Brown created the Judah Brown project after her toddler son drowned after quietly slipping from her immediate attention.
She told KTRK to have a “water watcher” who is not distracted near pools where kids are playing at all times to ensure children don’t drown. Brown also advised emptying wading and inflatable pools and putting them away when kids are done using it.
“We were at a friend’s BBQ, at their apartment pool, and all of our kids were swimming,” Brown wrote on her project website. “I sat him down again and began watching the pool and talking to my friend. Judah somehow slipped away from his chair without anyone seeing and got back into the pool, without his puddle jumper.”
“Most people don’t know that it takes multiple layers of protection to truly keep a child safer around water because if one layer fails, you need the rest to hold strong,” she said.
