Swimming pools are a great source of entertainment and exercise—especially during the summer months—but they can also be the source of serious injuries and fatalities. Swimming pool injuries happen quickly, but the effects of the injury can be devastating and permanent. On average, there are over 3, unintentional drowning deaths every year in the United States, or about 10 deaths every day. Many more people end up in the emergency room with serious injuries from asphyxiation lack of oxygen or from swimming pool injuries from improper maintenance, supervision, or safety procedures around a pool.
In total, close to 80, people suffer swimming pool injuries every year. Owners and operators of swimming pools must follow certain safety standards, and they can be held liable for injuries if they fail to follow those standards.
Accidental drowning is a leading cause of unintentional death in children ages 1 to 4, and most of the fatalities occur in residential pools. In Tennessee in , there were 6 child accidental drowning deaths in a pool. A child can drown in less than 2 inches of water. Just a few minutes under the water can cause serious, permanent brain damage. Within 5 to 7 minutes, that damage becomes fatal. Swimming pool drownings can also occur from faulty drain covers. Pool drains without covers can create a strong suction that can trap children at the bottom of a pool or spa, sometimes up to pounds of force.
Federal law now requires public pools and spas to follow anti-entrapment guidelines for swimming pool drains after a 7-year-old girl drowned at the bottom of a spa when four adult men could not pull her from the powerful drain suction. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, last year about 8 in 10 pools in the United States violated at least one safety regulation. About 1 in 8 of those violations were so egregious that they caused the immediate closure of the site.
Diving injuries can leave children with serious and permanent spinal or head injuries from impact with the sides or bottom of the pool. Depending on the type of pool involved, owners and operators of swimming pools and spas can be held liable for injuries if they failed to maintain safety standards of their pool, or failed to warn visitors about dangers of the pool. Public pools and spas in Tennessee are also required to be surrounded by a fence that is at least 4 feet tall, is self-latching and lockable, with bars no further than 4 inches apart to keep children from getting in.
