Residential Pool Drownings and Young Children
Young Children are the Most Common Residential Pool Drowning Victims
Young children are the most likely victims of swimming pool drownings. In fact, drowning is the leading cause of accidental injury death for children between the ages of one to four, according to the CDC. If your child was injured or killed at the residential pool that belonged to a friend, neighbor, acquaintance, or family member, you have the right to seek compensation in a personal injury or wrongful death claim.
Drowning to Death Only Takes Five Minutes.
An accidental drowning can happen in a matter of minutes. If the brain is deprived of oxygen for five or more minutes, permanent brain damage or death can occur. Even if the victim is revived in a hospital, they may be left in a vegetative state. But death from drowning does not even require the victim to be submerged for five or more minutes. A victim can lose consciousness in less than a minute, and if CPR is not performed immediately to supply their brain with oxygen, or if they do not wake up quickly on their own, death or vegetative state can still occur within five minutes. Adults who do not take action by removing a child from the water, performing CPR, and/or immediately calling 911 can be sued for inaction. A bystander can successfully be sued for not providing CPR soon enough, or for providing inadequate CPR. The chances of winning a lawsuit against someone who provided CPR quickly, and who performed CPR within reason, however, is very low.
Petition to Enforce Pool Fences By Closing Date of New Home Purchases
A Change.org petition, which has reached over 20,000 signatures, is calling for new legislation to be drafted in order to increase pool safety for young children. As the current Florida law stands, residential pools must be outfitted with certain safety features, such as a four-foot-tall fence with a self latching gate, as per statute 515.29 only when a new pool is constructed. Yet, many home buyers end up moving into houses that already have a pool but no fence. The law does not require these homeowners to install a fence because the pool has already been built. It is a strange loophole in the law, and one that results in deadly drownings every year. The creator of the petition lost her four-year-old son in this exact circumstance, as the home she had recently purchased had a pool but no fence, and she was unable to hire a contractor in time before her son crawled through the dog door, found his way to the pool and drowned, as described in the Sun Sentinel.
Call an Orlando Accidental Drowning Attorney Today
The drowning injury or death of your child is a tragedy that should have been prevented. Here at Payer Law, our Orlando personal injury attorneys will hold the negligent party responsible. Contact us today at 866-930-1238 to schedule a free consultation.
Resource:
change.org/p/require-pool-safety-compliance-upon-purchasing-a-home-to-prevent-traumatic-child-drownings?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=be107b50-b451-11e5-8208-db8bfccc0e31&use_react=false
sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-pool-safety-summer-petition-20200607-dcdbhaupynallc3wfhi2lpain4-story.html
cdc.gov/safechild/child_injury_data.html#:~:text=For%20children%20less%20than%201,to%204%20years%20of%20age.
/personal-injury-claims-in-orlando/
