Watch Your Children Carefully At the Pool This Summer

August 16, 2018

Did you know that drowning is a top cause of unintentional death in children younger than 5? Drowning can happen in an instant, and can lead to severe and tragic consequences such as long-term brain damage and death. If you have a pool in the backyard, or if you take your children to a public pool, make sure to keep a vigilant eye out.

Young children who don’t know how to swim or who are not strong swimmers are at the highest risk of drowning. All it takes is a few moments in a few inches of water to cause irreparable harm to your child. If your child has been injured or killed due to insufficient security or supervision at a pool, call personal injury lawyer Karl Truman at 502-306-0709 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

How To Tell If A Child Is Drowning

Movies and TV have perpetuated a false image of what it looks like to drown. In reality, drowning victims do not splash around or yell. Drowning is most often very quiet, and can happen without anyone noticing.

Here are some signs to watch for that your child may need assistance:

• Floating face down and still
• Not making any noise
• Older children may be vertical with their head just above the water

Very young children don’t have the strength to keep their head above water, so they will usually be face down with their arms stretched out. Older children (and adults) will likely be vertical, with their head just above the water and tilted back. If they lose consciousness or are otherwise incapacitated, they will also end up face down in the water.

Young children usually make a lot of noise while playing. When they go silent, that’s when you need to check that they are okay. If you notice your child displaying silent drowning signs, go to them immediately.

Common Causes of Drowning Accidents

Some of the most common contributing factors to drowning injuries and deaths include:

• Lack of supervision
• Lack of barriers
• Poor or nonexistent swimming skills
• Alcohol use

If you are a parent or babysitter, the single most important thing you can do to prevent drowning accidents is to pay attention to your children. In the time it takes to reply to a few texts or run to the bathroom, a child can slip under the water and suffer a drowning injury.

In addition, pools should always have secure, child-proof barriers to entry. If you have a pool in your backyard, your child shouldn’t be able to get into it easily. This goes for community pools and your neighbors, too. If your child drowns because they wandered into someone else’s pool that wasn’t secured properly, the owner of that pool could be sued for negligence.

If you and your child have regular access to pools, lakes, the ocean, or other bodies of water, it’s probably worth it to invest in some swimming lessons. Strong swimming skills greatly reduce the chance of drowning.

Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation Today

If your child has unfortunately suffered a drowning injury, call personal injury and wrongful death lawyer Karl Truman today at 502-306-0709.

Medical bills and ongoing care for children who survive drowning can be prohibitively expensive for many families. Karl Truman will work with you to get you the compensation you need. We also help families with wrongful death cases in the tragic circumstances of death by drowning.

We serve clients in Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville, IN.