AAJ Education: Establishing Recklesssness in Pool Drowning Cases

November 12, 2013

I. Recklessness in Pool Cases—Suction Entrapment as an Example

Drowning is a horrible way to die. Drowning due to pool drain entrapment is downright

terrifying—and it does not have to happen in the first place!

There are thousands of unintentional drownings that occur in the United States each year. There

is an annual average of 283 drowning deaths (2003-2006) and 2,700 emergency room-treated

submersion injuries involving children younger than 5 years old in pools and spas around the

country. As Inez M. Tenenbaum, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission

(CPSC) has stated, “Just one incident is one too many, and the statistics are a wakeup call and a

reminder that these tragic incidents are preventable.” Unfortunately, a number of these pool

drownings occur because of the pool industry’s blatant disregard for safety. A prime example of

this disregard for the public safety is the danger imposed on consumers, especially kids, from

suction entrapment—something that is completely preventable.

The recurrence of these suction entrapment tragedies over the last few decades provides