Guest Author - Paula Petrie

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports there are about 280 drowning deaths of children under 5 years of age every year in swimming pools, and an estimated 2,100 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pool submersion injuries in 2005. Most incidents happened in residential pools.

The CPSC is also warning us of an increase in drowning deaths reported in inexpensive, inflatable pools. There were 17 drowning deaths involving inflatable pools in 2005, up from the nine reported in 2004 and 10 in 2003.

"Parents need to understand any pool poses a drowning risk," said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. "Consider the danger of water before investing in an inflatable pool."

Small inflatable pools can cost $50. The larger pools which are, 4-feet deep and 18-feet wide, can cost under $200. These pools often don’t require the same barriers as other pools. Most often consumers haven’t considered that barriers are necessary.

To reduce the risk of drowning, CPSC recommends a barrier such as a fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate to completely surround the pool and prevent unsupervised access by young children. If there is a door from the house leading to the pool CPSC recommends using an alarm on the door leading to the pool area.

"No one layer of protection is foolproof to prevent drowning in pools," said Stratton. "Use as many layers of protection as possible. Multiple barriers and constant supervision are essential to protecting children."

The CPSC advises it is important to always be prepared for an emergency:

Have rescue equipment and a phone near the pool.

All parents should learn CPR.

Since every second counts, always look for a missing child in the pool first. About 77 percent of drowning victims had been missing for 5 minutes or less when they were found.

Many children slip under the water silently, even people near the pool report hearing nothing out of the ordinary.

Drowning can occur in the few minutes it takes to answer the phone. Many drowning deaths occur because young children are not thought to be near the pool. In a CPSC study, almost 70 percent of the victims were last seen in the house or in the yard before the incident.

CPSC staff is currently working with the voluntary standards group ASTM International, consumer safety groups, retailers and inflatable pool manufacturers to develop safety standards for these products. Some local jurisdictions already require barriers for the larger inflatable pools. For example, the state of New York requires fencing around any pool that is at least 2-feet deep.

For more information about drowning prevention, read CPSC's Swimming Pool Safety Alert, Safety Barrier Guidelines for Pools and How to Plan for the Unexpected.

Also, CPSC recently updated its Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer, which gives information on reducing drain entrapment dangers. Copies of all these free publications can be obtained by going to CPSC's Web site or by calling CPSC's Hotline at (800)638-2772.