Pool Safety/Drowning Prevention For HOA's

A private swimming pool run by a condo or homeowners’ association can be a very attractive amenity to potential homebuyers. However, while they can be popular with owners, pools create a number of liabilities for the association that need to be addressed to avoid safety concerns.

Learn the action steps you can take for safeguarding children in and around the water.

SUPERVISION

Curiosity, rapidly changing skills, and an inability to understand danger place young children at high risk. Adults must establish and communicate responsibility for child supervision:

• Assign an adult "water watcher" to supervise the pool/spa area, especially during social gatherings.

• Assign a second adult to maintain constant visual contact with children in the pool/spa area. Don't assume someone else is watching a child.

• Never leave a child alone near a pool or spa, bathtub, toilet, water-filled bucket, pond, or any standing water in which a child's nose and mouth may be submersed.

• Don't rely on swimming lessons, life preservers, or any other equipment to make a child "water safe".

• Don't allow children to play in the pool/spa area.

• Look in the pool area first if a child is missing.

• Communicate pool safety measures with the baby-sitter and train the sitter in CPR.

PREPARATION

• Learn how to swim, proper rescue techniques and CPR.

• Mount rescue equipment by the pool. This should include a lifesaving ring, shepherd's hook, and CPR sign. Many float-type toys like arm floats and inflatable rings are thought to be lifesavers. They aren't. They are only toys and should be used only as toys.

• Post the 9-1-1 emergency phone number on your phones. Have a phone near the pool area. Don't leave children unattended while talking on the phone. Important Facts About Childhood Drowning

• Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death to children under five years of age in 18 states, and California leads the nation.

• A pool or spa is 14 times more likely than a vehicle to cause the death of a child under five. • Drowning is a silent event. Children under five do not understand the dangers of falling into water and do not splash or cry out for help.

• Children can drown during surprisingly short breaks in visual contact.