Portable Pools Pose Summer Drowning Hazard For Children

Portable pools are a great way for children to keep cool and have fun in hot weather, but a new study shows that every five days a child drowns in a portable pool during the summer months in the US, the vast majority of them under five years of age. In many cases a brief moment of adult inattention is all it takes, and parents should realize that portable pools are as risky as in-ground ones, and take multiple steps to reduce drowning hazard, said the researchers whose study is due for online publication in the journal Pediatrics on Monday. Senior author Dr Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues found that many parents, looking for alternatives to costly in-ground pools or water parks, don't realize the dangers posed by portable pools, which include wading pools, inflatable pools and soft-sided, self-rising pools. Smith and colleagues studied reports of both fatal and non-fatal submersion events. It is thought to be the first pediatric study of submersion events in portable pools. They found that most cases:     * Involved children under five years of age (94% of cases),     * Involved boys (56%),     * Occurred during the summer months (81%),     * And took place in the family's own yard (73%). Smith told the press because these pools are usually inexpensive, small and easy to use, parents often don't realize the danger they pose. "It only takes a couple of minutes and a few inches of water for a child to drown. It is important for parents to realize that portable pools can be just as dangerous as in-ground pools," he warned. In addition, Smith, who is also a professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and his colleagues found that in more than 40% of cases, the children were under adult supervision at the time of the submersion, and in 18% of them, the submersion occurred during a moment of inattention, such as answering the phone, attending to a chore, or socializing with neighbors. The researchers stressed that as drowning can occur in minutes in just a few inches of water, adult supervision is not enough protection for children when they are in these pools. There should be multiple layers of protection for keeping children safe. These should include ways to stop children getting into the pools when adults are not present, keeping them safe while they are using them, and being able to respond effectively should a sumbersion occur. Smith said that many parents are put off by the high cost of tools to prevent accidental drowning, or they are simply not available for portable pools. These include isolation fencing, pool safety covers, removable or lockable ladders, and pool alarms designed specifically for use with portable pools. "Portable pool manufacturers should develop more effective and affordable tools to help parents decrease the drowning hazards associated with these products," he urged. The researchers got their data from several sources: the Death Certificate file, the Injury/Potential Injury Incident file, the In-Depth Investigation file, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, and the the four US Consumer Product Safety Commission databases. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on average, ten people drown accidentally in the US every day. In 2007, there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drownings, with more than 1 in 5 victims of fatal drowning being children aged 14 years and younger, according to the CDC's Unintentional Drowning Fact Sheet. And, for every child that drowns, four others receive emergency care for non-fatal injuries related to submersion. Furthermore, says the CDC, many parents have watched their child drown without realizing what was happening. The agency says most unintentional drownings of very young children in America occur in residential swimming pools, and they also point to lack of barriers and supervision as major factors. Their records show that most of the young children who drowned in pools in 2007 were last seen indoors, had been out sight for less that 5 minutes, and were under the supervision of one or both parents at the time. The CDC recommends if you have a pool in your yard, you should install four-sided, and not just three-sided fencing around the pool and ensure it completely separates the pool area from the rest of the yard. The fence around the pool should be at least 4 feet (1.2 metres) high, have self-closing and self-latching gates that open outwards and the latches should be out of reach of children. You should also think about extra barriers such as automatic door locks and alarms that stop people getting into the pool area without your knowledge. Keeping the pool and the area surrounding it free of floats, balls and other toys when it is not in use will also help reduce children's temptation to enter the pool area unsupervised.