Pools are common in Florida. The weather is hot year-round and we all need a place to cool off besides the regular thunderstorms in summer. Many homes have one. They’re quite a sight when you’re flying into a major city!
But owning a pool comes with dangers of drowning. One of the biggest causes of death for children between the ages of 1-4 is drowning and most of those incidents happen at a pool at home, not in open water.
Even adults can drown in a pool if something goes wrong, like if a faulty light causes electrocution or if they dive into a pool that is too shallow. Once you become incapacitated in water, the chance of drowning skyrockets.
On this page, we’ve collected information about pool accidents and pool safety in Florida. You’ll know how to stay safe in the water and to keep kids from drowning in your pool, something that can open you up to a lot of liability. If your pool has become the neighborhood pool, please read the article on hosting a pool party so you can avoid a tragedy and an expensive lawsuit.
We also urge you to keep your pool equipment serviced to avoid mechanical and electrical problems and to avoid drinking alcohol around pools. Alcohol use leads to risky behavior and, in extreme cases, could cause you to pass out in the water. Finally, if you are in one of those Florida thunderstorms, stay out of the water! You don’t want to be in it if lightning strikes.
Nearly 1,000 children in the U.S. drowned in 2011, and swimming pools were the most common site for youth drowning accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other drowning statistics are just as troubling. Martin Eichelberger, MD, president and CEO of Safe Kids and director of emergency trauma and burn services at…
Florida is a hotbed for private and public pool use, thanks in large part to the state’s year-round warm weather. But pools and other bodies of water also present certain dangers, and the state has the highest age-adjusted drowning rate in the nation at 0.7 per 100,000 people. Examining the statistics highlights certain hazards of…
The majority of Florida’s pool-related accidents and deaths are due to drowning, but other factors may cause the death of a loved one in or near a pool as well. Faulty pool equipment can also be serious problem, for example. North Miami was the scene of a recent incident. Faulty Wiring May Have Led to…
Florida enjoys year-round warm weather, allowing us to enjoy swimming pools and pool parties when much of the country is dealing with snow and ice. While pools are exciting and a great way to beat the heat, they have some inherent dangers that parents need to consider before hosting a child pool party. By taking…
A recent incident at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex found that twin toddlers, just two years old, drowned when they wandered from their apartment and through an unlocked gate to the pool area. Attorney Jason Chalik knows that accidents such as these are preventable. “As parents of three children, Debi and I are always concerned…
Each year as summer heats up, Florida tourists and residents alike flock to the state’s beaches, pools and lakes as a means of cooling off and having fun. Unfortunately, as recreational water use increases, so does the risk for a Florida drowning accident. In 2009, there were 381 accidental drowning deaths in Florida alone and…
