Summer Brings Risk of Portable Pool Drowning for Children

A recent study conducted by investigators at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio looked at the 209 drowning deaths that occurred in the U.S. between 2001 and 2009 in children under the age of 12 involving above-ground pools.

The research team, led by Dr. Gary A. Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the hospital, found that on average, one child drowns in a portable swimming pool every five days in the U.S. The investigators also noted that these deaths involve not only large, deep swimming pools, but also smaller, shallow ones.

Experts warn parents that even small, inflatable pools can also pose a serious risk to their child’s safety, so it is important to take precautions with any size pool; not only deep in-ground and above-ground pools.

Dr. Smith and his group of investigators also found that children under 5 years of age have the greatest risk of drowning, with almost 95 percent of the over 200 cases they detailed falling in that age range. For that reason, parents of young children should be extra cautious when their child is in the vicinity of any pool. According to the study, more than 40 percent of these drowning deaths occurred while the child was under adult supervision and about 39 percent occurred while there was no adult supervision. The remaining 18 percent of the 209 drowning deaths occurred as a result of a lapse in supervision.

The study used data taken from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and will be published online in Pediatrics.

If your child’s drowning death was caused by another’s negligence, call or email the attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today for a free case evaluation. We have helped clients with Queens premises liability, Bronx premises liability, Brooklyn premises liability, Manhattan premises liability and Long Island premises liability matters.

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