By Dr. Amanda Salter
Contributing Columnist
Southern California’s warm weather, combined with abundant pool and beach access, is a central part of summer, especially for children.
But this lifestyle comes with an often-overlooked risk.
Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children ages 1 to 4 in the United States, and up to 90% of deaths in children under 5 years of age happen in residential pools.
Fortunately, drowning is 100% preventable with the right precautions. Key prevention measures include four-sided fencing, close supervision, life jackets and swimming lessons when age appropriate.
While experts recommend using multiple methods to prevent drowning, pool fences have been shown to be the most studied and effective drowning prevention strategy.
Sadly, a lot of homeowners believe fences are an aesthetic eyesore, so they instead rely on devices like water alarms – floating toys that sense motion on the water’s surface – or a net or pool cover, or a door or gate alarm.
Although these options provide great additional levels of protection, nothing beats a fence around a swimming pool – and studies prove it.
Fenced in
Installation of four-sided fencing (at least 4-feet tall) with self-closing and self-latching gates that completely isolates the pool from the house and yard is the most studied and effective drowning-prevention strategy for young children, preventing more than 50% of swimming-pool drownings in this age group, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
And pool fences should be around all pools, including permanent in-ground pools, above-ground pools, and hot tubs.
As a pediatrician of 15 years who previously worked in the emergency department of a hospital in Oakland, I’ve seen too many children die from this preventable tragedy. Drowning, in fact, is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality among young children in the U.S., California, and Orange County.
Backyard tragedies
I’m a board member of the American Academy of Pediatrics-Orange County and this time of year in particular, with the weather heating up, pool safety is top of mind.
The statistics are sad — and disturbing.
Between 2013 and 2015, more than half of drownings (58%) among children aged 4 and under happened in a pool or spa at their own home, according to healthychildren.org. Most children drowned when they wandered out of the house and fell into a swimming pool that was not fenced off from the house. They slipped out a door, climbed out a window, or even crawled through a doggy door to access the pool.
A family swimming pool isn’t the only one a child can get into unnoticed. More than a quarter (27%) of drownings among children aged 4 and under took place at the home of a friend, relative or neighbor, healthychildren.org reported.
It’s important to note that homeowners who have pools could be found legally liable should a child from another home drown. Lawyers call such pools “attractive nuisances.”
When my kids were very young, we only lived in homes without pools. We’d drive our children to community pools and carefully watch them. Drowning happens fast and is often silent.
So, forget how fences look: If you have a pool, install a fence around it. You could be saving a child’s life.
Dr. Amanda Salter is a primary care physician at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.