NEW YORK, May 2, 2006
Little-Known Hazard On Pool Floors
Kids Can Get Stuck On Drains; Bill Seeks To Water Down The Danger
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Play CBS Video Video Making Pools Safe For Kids Julie Chen speaks to Dr. Martin Eichelberger, CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide, and Nancy Baker, whose daughter drowned in a pool, about the steps parents can take to prevent drowning and drain entrapment.
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Nancy Baker, whose daughter drowned, and Safe Kids Worldwide President and CEO Dr. Martin Eichelberger, on The Early Show Tuesday (CBS/The Early Show)
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Entrapment can also occur when a child's hair or swimsuit gets tangled in the drain or on an underwater object, such as a ladder.
Only four states, California, Arizona, Oregon and Florida, have laws to ensure safety at pools, requiring fencing to enclose the pool area.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., provides incentive grants for states that make pool and spa safety mandatory. It requires five layers of protection, as opposed to one in the four states with such laws. The layers include a wall, fence or barrier that entirely encloses the pool; self-closing and self-latching gates for any walls, fences or barriers; a drain system that contains two suction outlets per pump; an anti-entrapment safety suction outlet drain cover; and a safety vacuum release system.
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental injury-related death among children ages 1-14, but only 34 percent of parents know it, and 29 percent aren't at all familiar with entanglement and entrapment risks. Also, 55 percent of pool- and spa-owning parents aren't at all or are only somewhat informed about how to ensure drain safety.
From 1985 to 2004, at least 33 children under the age of 14 died as a result of entrapment in pool or spa.
Some tips to prevent drowning and entrapment:
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
