Watching children engage with water is fun. Many take to the water naturally. Others come to the experience a little more hesitantly and need encouragement. In midwestern states like Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, water access is available through lakes, ponds, streams and, of course, pools indoor and outdoors.
Anyone who owns or operates a pool faces an extra duty of care to be sure that use of their pool takes place in the safest way possible. The same goes for those owning home spas. This is especially true when it comes to keeping children safe. There are many suggestions for “waterproofing” ourselves, but the reality is that negligence leads to unsafe conditions that can result in serious or fatal injury.
Keep Children from Drowning
More than 200 youngsters die by drowning in backyard pools every year. Because of this, experts have come up with a number of tips to improve pool safety. We’ve touched on some in previous posts. These include securing pool areas with safety covers and fencing, and perhaps even installing an alarm that can raise an alert if someone enters the pool without proper supervision.
In addition to that, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests the following:
- Never leave children unattended near any water, indoors or out.
- Have your child take swimming lessons, and take them yourself if you don’t know how to swim.
- Steer children clear of pool drains and filtering equipment
- Know how to shut off a spa’s systems in an emergency.
- Consider getting certified in CPR and maintain the certification year to year.
One other suggestion experts offer is to make sure youngsters stay hydrated. It might seem counterintuitive considering they are soaking on the outside, but swimming is exercise and the body’s insides need maintenance, too.
Swimming is a fun summertime activity, and Gerling Law hopes you’ll be safe out there.
Gerling Law is a leading personal injury law firm dedicated to providing aggressive legal representation to individuals and their families. With over 50 years of experience, Gerling Law has helped thousands of people in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in a wide variety of personal injury and consumer protection cases, including trucking accidents, wrongful death, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and social security disability. Gerling Law takes pride in the fact that we have never represented insurance companies, hospitals or large corporations and that we fight against powerful companies for our clients .
If you need an experienced, dedicated personal injury lawyer, Gerling Law is here to help. You can always reach us at 888-GERLING (888-437-5464) or through our website at www.gerlinglaw.com.
