Articles Posted in Swimming Pool Accidents

A 14-month old girl nearly drowned in the backyard pool of a Menifee home Sept. 5, according to this news report by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The report states that the girl’s father, Scott Stevens, tried to perform CPR on the girl, who had reportedly lost consciousness and turned blue following the swimming pool accident.

A Sheriff’s deputy helped the father with CPR and together they were able to resuscitate the girl and transport her to an area hospital. The toddler is now said to be in stable condition. Officials say the girl had access to the pool because one of her older siblings left the swimming pool gate open. That child apparently opened the gate by climbing up on a box to reach the gate latch.

I’m relieved that this toddler survived what could have been a fatal swimming pool accident. Assuming that this report is accurate, this incident only goes to show how resourceful even very young children can be and the measures we have to take as parents to keep our children safe. If that child had been a neighbor’s child that had fallen into the pool, the homeowner could have been held financially responsible for the near drowning. Medical expenses in a near drowning incident could easily run into millions of dollars. Nearly every summer we represent a family whose loved one drowned because of the negligence of a homeowner, caretaker or lifeguard.
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Jhovan Peralta, 4, drowned over the Labor Day weekend at a Chula Vista Lagoon Style swimming pool, according to a 10news report. Jhovan was reportedly found unconscious in the swimming pool at East Lake Beach Club on Lakeridge Circle. Paramedics took the boy to an area hospital, where he died.

According to another news report by NBC, the boy was found by some unidentified people in the water following the fatal swimming pool accident. They dragged him to the shore. There are conflicting reports about whether the parents were with the boy or not. The NBC report states that the boy and his parents were visiting from out of town while the 10news report states that the boy lived in Spring Valley with his mother and siblings.

My heart goes out to the family of little Jhovan Peralta. Let us keep them in our prayers.

Unfortunately, fatal swimming pool accidents, especially those involving young children, are all too common in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that nationally more than one in four fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger and for every child who dies from drowning, another four were treated for submersion injuries. The CDC also found 30 percent of the children 1 to 4 years old who died in 2005, died by drowning.
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The father of an autistic 5-year-old girl, who drowned in an after-school program for special needs children in Desert Hot Springs, has filed a lawsuit against Angel View Crippled Children’s Center demanding answers and accountability in his daughter’s swimming pool accident death, according to this news report. Anyah Raven Glossinger of Cathedral City reportedly drowned in a mineral pool Jan. 23 after participating in a hydrotherapy session at the center.

The lawsuit filed by Micheal Glossinger, Anyah’s father, alleged that the school’s staff failed to place a life-saving vest on Anyah, who was legally blind, diagnosed with low-functioning autism and could not swim. Glossinger said in a news release that the Riverside County wrongful death lawsuit “won’t erase the pain or bring Anyah back, but it will help hold those responsible for Anyah’s death accountable for their actions.”

I offer my deepest condolences to Anyah’s family for their loss. The incident was ruled a fatal accident and no criminal charges were filed by authorities. The parents and their attorney believe that the caregivers at the school were not monitoring Anyah’s care and are seeking punitive damages in their wrongful death lawsuit.
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A 67-year-old man and his grandson drowned in a Selma swimming pool accident, according to an ABC News report. The drowning occurred at the McCall Village mobile home park on Dinuba near McCall. Police said the boy was swimming with both of his grandparents when his grandmother left for a short while to get some things from home. When she returned she saw her husband at the bottom of the pool and the grandson floating on top.

No one saw the drowning happen so police are still trying to figure out how it occurred. We’ll probably never find out how the boy and his grandfather drowned. I offer my deepest condolences to the family.

While swimming pools are fun, they can also be deadly. According to a release from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there were 3,852 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States in 2005. More than one in four fatal drowning victims were children 14 and younger. And for every four who die from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries, near drownings. Nonfatal swimming pool injuries include brain damage that could result in long-term disabilities including memory problems, learning disabilities and permanent loss of basic functions.
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A 7-year-old boy participating in a Altadena day camp program nearly drowned in the John Muir High School pool on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 according to a report in the Pasadena Star News.

The day campers were spending the day at the high school’s pool when a lifeguard spotted the boy in the water. A lifeguard pulled him out and CPR was immediately administered. When paramedics arrived the boy had a pulse but was not breathing on his own.

Let’s all keep this little guy in our prayers for a full recovery. Many near drowning victims suffer brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Let’s hope this boy and his parents suffer nothing more than a horrendous scare.

Swimming pool drownings in Southern California are nothing new. What is unique about this near drowning is that it happened at a public pool with life guards on duty and with, supposed, professional supervision. In California there are nearly twice as many drownings in backyard pools than in all other pools combined.
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Emilio Morales, a 3-year-old boy drowned in a recent swimming pool accident at a southwest Houston apartment complex, according to a news report in The Houston Chronicle.

The Missouri City boy and his family were reported to have been with friends at the apartments in the 2800 block of Rolido Drive, when the accident happened. Morales was wearing a floatation device in the swimming pool, with his family nearby. But he seemed to have slipped out of the device and drowned unnoticed, said the police. Morales was later pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital.

My heart goes out to the Morales family for their tragic loss. Houston is typical of other Sunbelt cities with a plenty of public and residential swimming pools. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has found that about 350 children under the age of 5 drown in swimming pools each year and for the Sunbelt states drowning is the leading cause of death for young children.
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An 18-month-old toddler, Bentley Colwell, drowned in a tragic Fresno swimming pool accident at his grandfather’s house in a Fig Garden neighborhood on the 600 block of East Saginaw Way, recently, according to an article in The Fresno Bee.

Bentley is believed to have fallen or jumped unnoticed, into the backyard swimming pool of the house in central Fresno near Wishon and Saginaw, said Cynthia Valdez, a police spokeswoman. The boy’s grandfather found him and pulled him out of the water. Bentley was pronounced dead at the Community Regional Medical Center. Valdez also reported there was no fence around the swimming pool or any evidence of safety measures.

This is truly a heartbreaking story and I offer my sincere condolences to the family.
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With temperatures soon warming up throughout the country, pools and spas are going to see a lot of use again. A timely article posted on the consumeraffairs.com Web site sadly serves to remind us of the dangers this seasonal activity typically brings with it.

The number of pool and spa-related deaths and swimming pool accidents has increased over the recent years according to a recent Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report. Children age five and younger are the most at risk from accidental drowning or a near-drowning, an accident that has the potential to cause terrible injuries. These types of accidents are largely preventable; happening as a result of poor or no adult supervision, mostly occurring in residential locations, and involving both large in-ground pools, as well as small inflatable pools. Currently inflatable pools do not fall under the barrier requirements of local building codes and as a result people often buy them without considering the safety needs.
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Swimming pool accidents are a common occurrence in California. In fact, in California and here in Orange County, it is the most common cause of death among children younger than 5 years of age. Most of it happens in backyard pools when an adult who is supposed to be watching looks away for just a moment. But many of these incidents also happen at community and private club pools where lifeguards are supposed to be watching over these kids.

Last week, a jury in Maryland which heard five days of heart-breaking testimony about the June 22, 2006 drowning death of a 5-year-old boy at a country club awarded the boy’s parents $4 million in damages. According to an article in The Baltimore Sun, jurors found the pool management company negligent for not providing appropriate training for its lifeguards and not sufficiently staffing their facility. The jurors awarded each of Connor Freed’s parents $2 million and $76 to symbolize Connor’s birthday – July 6.
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It was a crowded pool at a birthday party in a Villa Park home. It was a perfect day for a party – warm and sunny. There were plenty of kids in the pool and even more adults standing around the pool watching them. But not one of those kids or adults noticed 4-year-old Aurora Pruitt of Moreno Valley slip underwater and drown in the shallow end of the pool, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

The article states that there were as many as 15 children in the pool ranging in age from 3 to 16 years old. According to the report, five adults were watching the children. They made the horrible discovery at lunch time when all the children got out of the pool except for little Aurora. A parent, who saw her at the bottom of the shallow end of the pool, pulled her out and tried to resuscitate her, but didn’t succeed. Paramedics rushed her first to Chapman Medical Center and later to Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange, where she died just after 9 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, 18 children under the age of 18 have drowned in Orange County since January and nine of those children who drowned were under 13 years of age.

These are truly alarming numbers for Orange County. Drowning is the leading cause of death for young children in Orange County and California where backyard pools are the norm rather than the exception. Pools are a great resource and a pool parties are a great activity for the summer. But they can also be a liability. If a child drowns in your backyard pool under your watch, you could be held liable.
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