Injury In Idaho

How to Avoid Personal Injury at the Community Pool

It’s the summer and families and adolescents head to the community pool. If you live in the Sun Belt this may be a year round activity. The “community pool” may take the pool of a publicly maintained pool or the shared pool at a condominium, apartment complex, or club. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) drowning is the number one cause of unintentional death for children between the ages of one and four, and on average some 3,500 pool deaths occur annually (with and amazing 75% occurring in private residential pools). Thousands more suffer pool related injuries. Community pools offer challenges to safety that are in addition to all those risks presented by residential pools.With the help of a Miami FL personal injury lawyer, let’s look at some of the risks with the hope that a little knowledge and awareness will keep you or family members from becoming one of those CDC statistics.

1. Make sure the water is clean. Ask questions about the frequency of testing and the training of the people charged with water quality. It does not take much to imagine the bacteria that accumulate from children and infants relieving themselves in this public water. Don’t drink or swallow the water and make sure that your children understand not to put it in their mouths.

2. Don’t mix swimming with alcohol or recreational drugs. Anything that affects your judgment is an invitation to injury. A dive in the shallow end because of impaired judgment can result in catastrophic injury.

3. Don’t run or allow your children to run on pool decks. It’s common sense that they will be slippery when wet and it does not take much to fall and be severely injured requiring a trip to the emergency room for stitches or a cast.

4. Don’t bring glass on to the pool deck. It will inevitably fall and create a severe risk of laceration.

5. Avoid the drain. Community pools have extremely powerful filters. Too many children get caught in drains and drown. If you see the drain is uncovered, don’t go in the pool.

6. If the pool light is hanging loose- don’t go in the pool. The light may be damaged and electrical current flowing into the water.

7. Don’t dive head first into any shallow or moderately shallow portion of the pool- it’s an invitation to catastrophic injury. Jump feet first and make sure the area is clear of other swimmers.

While we hope that these tips help you have a safe and happy summer, if you or a loved one do sustain an injury as a result of someone else’s negligence,  a personal injury lawyer can be there to help. Contact a local attorney, today.

Thanks to our friends at Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. for their insight into some summertime safety tips.

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