Teachings of the House of Usher To protect yourself and your loved ones when using either public or private pools/spas you need to inform yourself of the dangers surrounding potential suction entrapment and make sure the facility you are using is properly fitted not only with an appropriate and functioning drain cover, but also an automatic pump shutoff device. Who in the internet and media world is not now aware of the near drowning of famous R&B Singer, Usher’s, five year old son in the pool of his father’s luxury home near Atlanta on Monday evening August 5, 2013 due to a pool drain suction entrapment incident? Why is it that this incident occurred, when the danger of drain suction entrapment has been known of for over 30 years, horrific deaths reported, and a Federal law passed requiring the taking of simple measures in order to prevent these incidents from reoccurring? This brief Blog entry will seek to answer these questions. These incidents are “rare”: All too often, the mainstream media refer to pool/spa suction entrapment incidents refer as “rare”. It depends on how you define the word. Are auto accidents “rare” because, considering the number of vehicles on the road, not all of them are involved in accidents each day (?)-- clearly not. Nor is such the case with pool/spa entrapment incidents. They have been documented to have happened—essentially every year—for over 30 years. Yet the pool/spa industry always claims these incidents to be “rare”. The media picks up on the industry’s usage of this word and public concern is thereby largely diverted: thus promoting the “nothing to see here folks, just move along” effect. “Just install a plastic drain cover and everything will be OK”: When news that 5 year old Usher Raymond V became entrapped in the bottom of his father’s pool and nearly drowned at least one news helicopter was dispatched to the scene. What it appears to show is all too typical: a pool drain with no drain cover. It’s not that the drain sump was not made to be used with a cover, but there was just no cover. This is all too typical, and but one example of why “just” installing a pool drain cover neither resolves the problem nor prevents these continuing tragedies from occurring. The facts are: plastic drain covers deteriorate, improper drain cover fasteners are often used, and/or human error creeps in when pool refurbishment, maintenance or repairs take place—resulting in either no drain cover and/or an ineffective drain cover. Still, . . . some so-called pool “experts” continue to tout the installation of drain covers in their media interviews as the ultimate safety device. Time after time history has proven this position to be grossly in error. Consequently, it is essential for a secondary protective system to be in place to automatically shut off the source of suction (pool/spa pump) in the event of a drain blockage. In proof of this point, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (the “Act”) passed in 2007 requires such devices on most existing commercial pools. There are a number of these cost effective and easily installed devices (alternatively referred to as and “APS” and “SVRS” units) readily available on the market. “We can rely on the Government to protect us”: Unfortunately, this is not so for a variety of reasons among which are the following: i) the Federal Act, as noted previously, applies only to commercial pools; ii) many pool owners (e.g.: most condominiums, although considered “commercial” under the Act) either do not know, or choose to ignore, they are subject to the Act; iii) the Federal government does not proactively enforce the Act—it reacts to reported commercial incidents (and many instances go unreported except on a local level); iv) the State governments, for the most part, have failed to enforce the Act (not our responsibility, costs too much for us to enforce, etc.); v) since private pools/spas are not covered by the act the industry continues to take the position that (cheap) plastic drain covers are all that need to be installed in these facilities. So, there you have it. For more extensive information on this topic, including reported incident and a survey of available protective devices, you are invited to visit: playitsafetech .
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 17:29:28 +0000
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