Immediate Release
July 6, 2009
Batavia, Ohio. The recent drowning of a 3-year-old in his grandparents’ pool in New Richmond is a sad reminder of how quickly these types of tragedies occur. The little boy had been swimming with his family earlier in the day, and later climbed in alone. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that 300 children, under the age of 5, drown each year; over 3,000 children under 5 are rushed to emergency rooms each year for submersion injuries. “The phone rings, the doorbell chimes, or another child struggles for your attention; these are all situations where you could be momentarily distracted and a child could climb into a pool or slip under bath tub water,” said Clermont County Department of Public Safety Services Director Beth Nevel.
Nevel says it is important for pool owners to have a fence around the pool, self-latching gates, a pool alarm, even alarms on doors to keep children away from danger. Over two-thirds of drowning cases involving young children happen at the victim’s home, a relative’s home, or at a neighbor’s pool.
“The Consumer Product Safety Commission says pool and hot tub drains can also be dangerous for young children,” said Nevel. As a result of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, enacted in December 2008, public pools and spas must have anti-entrapment drain covers installed. The Web site www.usa.SafeKids.org says the act was named for the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker; she died after becoming trapped, pinned by hundreds of pounds of suction force, in the bottom of a hot tub. For more information about drowning prevention, visit the Web site www.PoolSafety.gov.
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For additional information about this or other county news, contact Clermont County Communications Director Kathy Lehr at (513) 732-7597 or by e-mail, klehr@co.clermont.oh.us.