Swimming Pools: Silent but Deadly

When you live in one of the hottest states like Florida, a dip in the pool offers a cool and refreshing alternative to the endless heat. Even if you keep your pool under lock and key, kids have a clever way of getting into things, and your pool is no exception. In the United States, an average of 300 children die as a result of drowning in a pool or a hot tub, in 2009 that number doubled to 600.

As a property owner, you don't always have to be home for a drowning to take place in your backyard. Often times children wander into your backyard through a gate or they climb over walls. Children frequently drown in pools when there are many adults present. Sometimes in the case of a family party, where everybody assumes somebody else has an eye on the kids.

Children even drown at public pools where there are life guards. Parents feel too comfortable when there is a life guard present and they forget that the life guards are watching many children. Drowning can be silent, especially when there is water filling the child's lungs. It can be difficult for any adult to hear a drowning child amongst the laughter and clamor of a child filled swimming pool. In drowning accidents where CPR was administered and the child survived, often times the child sustained traumatic brain injuries as a result of the submersion.

Sobering Statistics

• According to the Drowning Prevention Foundation, 19% of all children that drowned did so in public pools where there were lifeguards on duty.
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 26% of all children ages 1-4 that died, did so as a result of drowning and fatal drowning is the second leading cause of death to children ages 1 to 14.
• "Of all preschoolers who drown, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less." Orange County, CA, Fire Authority

If you have lost a loved one to drowning, or if your loved one has sustained catastrophic injuries as a result of drowning, a Tampa swimming pool drowning accident attorney at Smith & Stallworth can advise you of the property owner's liability laws that are involved in order to help you get compensation for either a wrongful death suit or a personal injury case.

Contact a Tampa Swimming Pool Drowning Accident Attorney at our firm today for a free consultation.