Swimming pools and little kids - please be careful!

[Mainebound]

I m so sorry for this terrible loss, George. My thoughts go out to the family.

 

[hmp2z]

We had an incident in the town where I taught at in NC, where a few kids (one of them was a student of mine) broke into a house while its owners were away to use the swimming pool. The kids (ages 11-13) talked a mentally handicapped kid who couldn't swim into getting into the pool, and they all watched him drown. After that, I am a big advocate of pools being covered by lanais, not just an open fence that can easily be climbed or jumped.

Heather W

 

[MYDISNEYHOUSES]

George,

That is so sad. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.

Jane

 

[tednvon]

George and all, life will never be the same for all involved...life will go on, but never the same.

Great thread to make some firm points...This has been discussed in threads before but it time to say it again.

One of the serious potential problems of all pools I have seen in Disney rental homes is lack of a real "shallow" end. They all start at 3 feet which can be well over the head of many small children. The pools slope quickly to 5 feet so even a child chest high in 3 feet will bounce down hill and quickly be over their head.

Two years ago there were SIX of us IN our pool... Granddaughter Emily was 4 years old...this is a 12 by 30 pool! All of sudden, NO Emily. She had bounced down hill and with all the splashing was underwater in 4 feet of water. She was not visable because of all the waves and splashing...Only one person happen to notice she was not visable and we pulled her out sputtering and choking...she was 2 FEET from an adult who did not notice she had slipped under.
NEW RULE: Every child who cannot stand in the 5 foot or swim easily from one end to the other MUST wear GOOD QUALITY floaties the fit snuggly around the upper arm and will not let the head go below the surface.

We were 1 minute from a horrible tragedy with 6 of us within 20 feet of her...

Ted

 

[CarolA]

As I read this I see that no one has mentioned some of the most basic things....

1. Get those toddlers is swimming lessons. If they can walk they can learn to swim. My grandparents had a pool. My brother and I were in swimming lessons at about age 2 as were my brother's kids. (I taught, I know you can teach two year olds....) If they know how to swim they will know how to get to the side of the pool etc....

2. EVERY adult needs to know basic CPR skills. If something does happen and you haul a kid out, the difference between YOU starting CPR and waiting on EMS could be the difference between life, death or major brain damage! If you have kids and you don't know this skill call the local Red Cross.

 

[hinodis]

George, my deepest condolences to all invlolved. Your thread will certainly do some good. It really has me thinking twice. We are renting a pool home this fall and I have a 19, 16 and 10 year old. All can swim, but you better believe, that I will be enforcing some serious pool rules and watching them all carefully because of this thread. I am definately looking at this pool with a different view. Before this thread I know I would have let the kids swim on their own. Not now, I realize that the 19 and 16 year old are not going to watch the 10 year old good enough even though she is a good swimmer. Thank you so much for sharing this story, you may just save a life. I can't thank you enough for this awakening.

 

[cigarboo]

First of all, I'm very sorry to hear such a sad story. Just to add to the comments on the dangers of water and children. Even shallow water can be dangerous for toddlers who aren't very coordinated.

I was sitting with a friend of mine whose 20 month old was sitting on the edge of the kiddie pool with her feet in the water. She was only sitting about 3 feet from us. We were talking and my friend looked at her daughter, then took another glimpse about 20 seconds later and she was gone. Her daughter had slipped in. Even though the water was like 9 inches deep she was completely flat underwater. We pulled her out quickly and she had not been under the water very long to be life threatening. Just a lot of choking and coughing. The surprising thing to me was how quiet it all happened. There was no big splashing and yelling. She was young and couldn't get herself back up. If she would have just sat up, she could have had her head out of the water, but I think when they are so little, they don't really know what to do. This kiddie pool was only about 16x16ft and there was a lifeguard and he didn't even look over at us when this was happening. I don't think he had any idea what had happened because he seemed more distracted by all the splashing from the other kids. The kid who's quietly drowning doesn't draw as much attention as a kid "rough housing" in the pool. It's very easy to overlook a kid underwater.

So a lesson I learned from this experience is that little kids can drown even in kiddie pools less than a foot deep, that it can be very quite and also, don't depend on a lifeguard or others to watch your child. The lifeguard could have eventually noticed, but I would not take that kind of chance with my own child. It only takes a few minutes for it to be too late.

 

[MiaSRN62]

So sad George.....
My prayers and condolences to everyone.

Thanks for the very good advice given on this thread.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

First off, my heart goes out to this family... this is a tragic loss they will never forgive themselves for, both the parents as well as the ones watching the child.

Here in Fl, when a new pool is being built, it is code that there must be some sort of alarm or baby gate installed with it. I might be flamed for saying this, but my personal feelings on alarms are, by the time it goes off, that child is already in the water. Sure, it is better than nothing, but it would be better if it was a back up to a baby gate. Have the gate installed, then the alarm as the back up. If this is your home and your child.. isn't it worth the money

Water is something that cannot be taken lightly. One ounce is all it takes to drown... and just because they can swim doesn't mean they can't drown. Don't be fooled by that.
I have had a pool since my youngest was 18 months old. My older were nearly 6 & 8. I have a lania that is closed in with aluminum on the bottom and vinyl windows on the top. (totally seperate from my pool deck) The handles were moved up to the top of the door. Then there was a baby gate installed around the pool in the event they got out of the lanai. Then the pool itself is also screened in with the door handles on the top of the doors, and my yard is fenced in. (yes, Fort Knox) All three were able to swim, including the baby!
They are now 14, 18 & 20. We have one rule that is still a must and it goes for all of us.. it is the buddy system. We never swim alone. You want to swim, you swim when someone else is out there with you! You never know if you will get a cramp, hit your head etc.. drowning is not only for babies.
There are so many things that you need to think of and cover when dealing with a pool.. not just when you aren't there..and not just when they cannot swim.. it can happen when you are out there, it can happen to those that can swim. You just can never tell. Set your rules and stick to them. Get a cordless phone that is to be out by your pool at all times. I have one of the extra ones that doesn't need a phone jack.. plugs into the electrical outlet. That stays on my lanai. When they go out to the pool, that phone, or the cell phone goes with them! Always be sure to lock up the baby gates when you leave the pool area. My kids are older, so we took ours down. When they were younger, that was a must... the barrier had to be closed behind us and locked.. the doors had to be closed and locked..
We had to put our barrier up when we got one of our dogs, he used to jump into the pool and couldn't swim. We were afraid he was going to drown. So for a few months, after years of not dealing with the barrier and locks, we were back to doing it.. so the dog would not drown! Which is something people do not think of either.....

 

[nelljay1973]

George my heart is breaking with the family, as a mother of a 3 year old I can certainly get how they must be feeling.

I grew up in Australia, the land of swimming pools. The biggest lifesaver of all..is education...Teaching your children to stay away from pools just like any other danger, ie fireplaces etc without an adult. My kids have more fear of doing something like that because they have the wrath of Mummy to deal with. My 3 year old knows about drowning I tell him that if he can't swim and sticks his head under water he will drown.

Yet terrible accidents happen..that's right...accidents..no-one to blame, even the house with all the features can have accidents. They happen at pools with lifeguards, in 1 inch of water..they happen. All we can do it be the best prepared for when/if they do. My next door neighour "drowned" when she was 5 and was lucky to be revived by our other neighbour - and they had an above ground pool with no ladder left in the pool, a fence - but it still happened.

Learn CPR..In Australia it is taught in our high school system from grade 7 every year we had a week of swimming and life saving. Learned CPR before I could drive.

We know about the dangers of pools, the one that claims alot of people in Australia is the BEACH.

So please this summer be WATER AWARE...

 

[NC_Momto2]

When we bought our house, we installed locks up high on the doors that had to be unlocked with a key on all 3 doors that went onto the patio with steps leading to the pool area. One morning, when my youngest was 4, his older brother (6) climbed on a table and unlocked the door after hubby forgot to remove the key.
I had put them in the playroom while I vacuumed their room. They slipped out while I running the vaccum.

It was winter and freezing outside, but they were trying to get ice out of the pool when my youngest fell in. Fortunately, he was close enough to the side and managed to grab it. Thankfully, I heard him scream and knew it wasn't a normal crying out. I bolted out the door and grabbed him up heading for the shower and screaming for his brother to get inside. I don't think my heart stopped racing until hours later. Eventually, I got him warmed up. I had my stethescope in the car and grabbed it to check his lungs. He was alright, mainly scared, but I was a wreck. Although the pool had a fence around it, there wasn't one separating the pool and deck areas from the patio leading to it from the house. We added door alarms to the three doors going out onto that patio, but until they were older, I still didn't feel safe. They're 10 and 12 now and I don't let them in the pool without being out there with them. Nor do I let neighbor's children swim unless the child's parent is present also.

The bracelet alarms sound like a great idea. I'd love to find out who manufactures those. George, my sympathies to the family of the little boy and all of you who loved him. Losing a child has to be the most heartbreaking thing to endure that I can imagine.

 

[NurseW2Kiddies]

The first time I took my son to the Pediatritian after we moved to FL he was 3. The very first thing the Dr said to me was " You live in FL now. It's time to teach the little man to swim. NOW! Don't wait." I am not exagerating. Terrible things happen ALL the time. And you never think they are going to happen to you. I am so sorry to hear about this sad incident.
My mother has the gratest pool cover ever. It is spendy but VERY worth it. If you can afford a pool, you can afford one. Period. It's an electric pool cover that you need a key to open and close. My dad and my husband can both stand on it at the same time, no problem. My kids both ran across it numerous time both now and when they were small. Definatly a good investment. Cost is about $2000 . Like I said if you can afford a pool and you have little ones, budget for this.