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Home › Articles › General Safety Issues › The First Big Splash!

The First Big Splash!

Playing It Safe With Super-sized Backyard Pools and Babies

By Laura Cone

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

Debris and Safety Cover Confusion
Mays points out that many in-ground pools come with pool safety covers that are strong enough to support a child's weight so he or she does not fall through. However, the covers that often come with inexpensive blowup or plastic pools are not safety covers but debris covers.

"The [debris] covers themselves have been responsible for at least two drownings we know of," says Mays, adding two girls jumped on top of a cover acting as if it were a trampoline. "The cover engulfed them and held them under water until they drowned."

He is also wary of filter pumps because of the risk of electrocution if someone were to throw the pump into the water. As an added precaution, Mays says the filter pump should be equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), which shuts the power off before electrocution can occur.

Assuming there is constant adult supervision, Mays says a small wading pool is preferable when a child is young. "As a child gets older, if you want to graduate into a larger pool, there are safer pool designs than these inflatable pools and better designs," Mays says. "A pool with rigid sides is less likely to allow a child to fall into the pool by falling over the sides. [With] a pool with pliable sides like these inflatable pools, a child can actually fall right over the sides easily because they can press down."

Being a Responsible Pool Owner
Mays says pool owners, no matter how small or big the pool, need t be aware of the liability associated with having a pool. "Owners should be aware [and] they should look at not only the safety of their own family but also the safety of neighborhood children who may wander into their yard," he says. "A pool is an attractive nuisance. Kids will wander in to play with it from next door and drown in the pool. This happens all the time."

According to Mays, 300 children each year drown in swimming pools. It's the second leading cause of accidental deaths of children under 16, second to car accidents.


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