June 8, 2005
Time to Brush Up on Pool Safety, Health Precautions
Nothing says summer to children and families like that first trip to the local swimming pool.
As the school years ends and almost 600 licensed swimming pools open their doors across Montana, state health officials remind Montanans that swimming can be a fun way to improve health by building strong lungs and muscles.
But water recreation also can be hazardous. Swimmers, caregivers, and pool operators can reduce the risks by taking appropriate health and safety precautions.
Drowning is the most obvious risk associated with water. In Montana, 16 people died of accidental drowning in 2003 (the latest year for which statistics are available), according to the Office of Vital Statistics of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). In recent years, the state has averaged about five drowning deaths of children annually.
DPHHS does not keep specific statistics on pool-related drownings. However, nationwide, about 250 children under the age of 5 drown in swimming pools each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Last year, about 2,300 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pool submersion injuries.
A less obvious threat to swimmers is illness caused by swallowing or simply paddling about in contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, and rivers.
"There has been an increase in the past decade of illnesses associated with swimming," according to Paige Johnson, manager of the Public Bathing Control Program of DPHHS. "In most cases, modern disinfection systems will kill the germs that cause disease when they're used appropriately. But some germs are resistant. Without swimmers' help, even well-maintained pools can spread illness."
Waterborne illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including infections of the skin, ear, eye, wounds, and respiratory system. The most common illness, diarrhea, is spread by swallowing water that has been contaminated with fecal matter.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer these tips to help prevent waterborne illnesses:
- Don't swim when you have diarrhea;
- Don't swallow pool water;
- Shower before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers;
- Take your child to the bathroom or check diapers often;
- Change diapers in a bathroom and not at poolside; and
- Wash your child thoroughly with soap and water before swimming.
More information about healthy swimming is available at the CDC Web site at: www.healthyswimming.org .
To help protect against drowning accidents, caregivers should supervise children closely and consider learning cardiovascular resuscitation, or CPR. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has these additional suggestions for owners of residential pools:
- Use fences with self-latching gates, safety covers, and alarms to prevent unwanted access to residential pools;
- Keep rescue equipment and a phone near the pool;
- Prevent entrapment (when a person's limbs or hair get entangled in a drain cover) by replacing missing or broken drains;
- Consider installing a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS), which detects when a drain is blocked and automatically shuts off the pool pump.
Finally, Johnson recommends that commercial pool operators:
- Check chlorine and PH levels often;
- Educate pool staff about the importance of maintaining water quality;
- Evaluate restroom and diaper-changing areas;
- Develop a fecal-accident response policy and keep accurate records;
- Test and record water quality at least twice a day, or even more often depending on usage;
- Employ sufficient numbers of CPR-trained lifeguards.
For more information about the DPHHS Public Bathing Control Program, contact Johnson at 444-5302 or pjohnson@mt.gov.
Page last updated: 06/15/2006
