Parents of Children Killed in Pool Drain Accidents Outraged By Federal Agency's Rethink of Safety La

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

The decision by a federal agency to reinterpret a law meant to prevent deaths due to pool-drain accidents has outraged pool safety advocates and the parents of children killed by pool-drain suction.

"I was blown away," said Nancy Baker, mother of a seven-year-old who died in 2002. "It's sad that it will take more deaths to make them see the intent of the law."

Baker and Karen Cohn, mother of a six-year-old who died in 2007, sent an angry letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after that agency recently voted to interpret the 2007 Pool Safety Act to no longer require back-up anti-entrapment systems in as many as 150,000 public and hotel pools and hot tubs.

"We urge you to reconsider and fulfill the intent of this important new law by installing the layers of protection that are required to mitigate-if not eliminate-incidences of drowning across this country," wrote Baker and Cohn. "There's too much at stake."

The vacuum effect in pool drains is powerful enough to hold swimmers, especially children, to the bottom of a pool. Contact between human skin and a flat pool drain can create suction equal to hundreds of pounds of pressure. In one horrific instance, four adult men were unable to pull a young girl from the grasp of a deadly drain. Swimmers can die from drowning or evisceration.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/parents-children-killed-pool-drain-accidents-outraged-federal/story?id=10241722

[ananda]

1. E v i s c e r a t i o n ! ?

I had no idea. That's so horrible. Geez.

[RamboLiberal]

3. That was John Edwards most famous case

He went after pool & drain manufacturers for Valerie Lakey who had suffered just that injury at age five. She is still alive but the injury means she has to take nourishment through intravenous feeding system.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. The plaintiff, a little girl, had her intestines sucked out through her rectum.

John Edwards not just "won" the case, but also brought the safety hazard to public attention.

[BlueIris]

18. Funny how you never hear much about Edwards' role there.

I bet if I brought it up with your average voter today all I would hear is more crap "about" him pulled from the National Enquirer.

[northernlights]

8. yes. evisceration.

children have had their intestines sucked out of them.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Here, read this:

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/shorts/guts

[Canuckistanian]

11. Well, that was freakin' bizarre

Not only what happened to the guy, but also his writing style.

I don't ever want to read his stuff again.

[Cal Carpenter]

12. Ever seen Fight Club?

He wrote the book

[Regret My New Name]

20. lol... eeeek

bookmarked that.

[Thothmes]

2. Take it up with the current administration

[Brickbat]

4. This is terrible. There was a case like this here recently. It sucked out her intestine, and she

died six months later.

[abelenkpe]

6. All Parents Should write to Complain

about this decision in order to protect our children. We need a letter writing campaign!


Please write!

[marshall]

16. In the meantime, keep kids out of pools unless supervised

That will be what I am doing with my son.

[fleabert]

22. and tell him not to mess with drains or drain covers, even if you are watching him...nt

[katandmoon]

7. Unconscionable

[0rganism]

10. this raises a question in my mind...

how many in the CPSC are W appointees?

Shouldn't the preznit be doing something about that? It's nice that he cares so much about arms reduction treaties and getting more folks on health insurance, but while he's tackling those issues there are plenty of creeps lingering on the payroll who are undercutting America.

[Lance_Boyle]

13. Here's an idea - parents should watch their children in pools and hot tubs.

Don't let your kids get stuck to drains. That doesn't seem to be setting the bar too high for responsible parenthood, does it?

[fleabert]

14. the suction is strong enough to trap adults too- it's overly strong.

this is not regulation in search of a problem- as a former lifeguard and lifeguard instructor- it's a real risk.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children age 1-4, and a suction at the bottom of a hot tub or swimming pool can hold them there strongly enough that it could be difficult the pull them off the drain quickly enough to prevent them drowning first.

the fix is simple for the majority, and compared to the loss of life potential (and the potential loss of revenue for a facility with a drowning on the books during such a short operating season usually, not to mention the cost of either defending and/or the cost increase or loss of insurance from the payout) it's a good ROI to fix your pool if it needs it IMHO.

no brainer if I owned a pool or waterpark.

edited to add:
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.htm
regarding the number of deaths for children age 1-4
i'd love to see the CDC add the filter issue to their fact sheet for water safety- I taught my students to be aware of the issue.

[RamboLiberal]

15. You could be standing right at the pool's edge

And if they get close enough to a drain where the cover wasn't installed correctly or is missing that child would be stuck to the drain before you could react. Then the suction would be so strong you couldn't free them in time.

This issue has nada to do with irresponsible parents.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. The ironic part is this legislation was pushed through by James Baker ...

The guy who helped install the last douche-bag from the "personal responsibility" and "lift yourself up by the boot-straps" cult in this country.

Funny how things change when it's YOUR Ox, or shall I say grandchild, that's gored.

Funny how you agree with James Baker .... the pre-grand-baby-drowned-in-a-hot-tub James Baker that is.

[BlueIris]

19. Horrifying. nt

[Regret My New Name]

21. Arghh... That's horrible, I'm glad I have a pool phobia

[Xithras]

23. The stupid thing is that these deaths are so easily preventable.

I have a very large (12 person) spa behind my home, and it has two simple features to prevent this sort of thing.

1. It has two drain intakes, three feet apart from each other. This reduces the suction around each individual intake.

2. Each intake consists of a 6 inch tall, 10" diameter domed mesh. The height and curve make it physically impossible to cover with your body.

During it's construction, I'd bet that both features cost the manufacturer no more than $10 combined. There's no reason that all pools and spas shouldn't be required to have something similar.

[Jefferson23]

24. I imagine James Baker and his ex daughter in law will continue to

fight against this bullshit to reinterpret the law.