Commentary : A Hazard That Doesn’t Go Away

I’m frustrated and angry. But I don’t really know where to direct my anger. It’s certainly not at the individuals who bring their children here for treatment after their child drowns or nearly drowns in a backyard swimming pool.

But this major hazard to the lives and health of small children and babies in Orange County simply does not go away. It comes back year after year in epidemic waves, leaving those of us who have to deal with the destruction of these young lives determined to do whatever is necessary to prevent it.

Multiple efforts to increase the awareness of the dangers of backyard pools are under way. The Orange County Trauma Society is certainly a leader in this effort.

The factors involved in a child drowning episode are multiple but easy to understand. In the years 1982 through 1985, the Orange County Health Department recorded 49 drowning deaths of children age 4 and under. Of these, 37 (or 75%) occurred in backyard pools or spas, four in apartment or condominium pools, three in bathtubs, two in small water containers, and only two in the ocean.

Judging by the last 100 patients received at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Childrens Hospital of Orange County, more than 90% of near-drownings occur in backyard pools. By far, children under the age of 3 are most susceptible, especially boys. The reasons for this are most evident to parents of children this age; the children are the fastest, most aggressive and curious creatures imaginable, and yet incredibly ignorant of the hazards in their environment.

Knowing this is vital to one’s understanding of adequate preventive measures.

The numbers show us that there is no “safe” child this age. And so there is no “safe” pool. Almost all these pools had fences. They obviously were not a deterrent. One can even make the argument that a fence is a challenge, not a barrier, to a 2-year-old. About one-quarter of the children who drowned had some sort of swimming lessons. Many of the rescuers knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation. And all the children were attended and transported by a superb paramedic system. So prevention of this problem is not going to be found in some easy answer promulgated by legislators in an attempt to regulate any one of these factors.

The near-drowning of a child is an absolutely terrifying experience for parents. The paramedics, the emergency room and the intensive care unit accentuate the helplessness felt as one’s child’s life hangs in the balance. Tubes, wires, monitors and respirators suddenly enter your life, and days of anguish may pass before you know if your child will live or die.

Yet, the fact remains that as many as one in five of these children will survive--but will not wake up, remaining severely mentally and physically retarded, requiring lifelong total care. Many of their parents have recurring nightmares of the episode, realizing that their dreams of success and family have been devastated by a single moment of carelessness.

The two repulsively common themes always present in these backyard incidents are the ready availability and accessibility of the pool--and the fact that at the time of the incident no one was watching the child. Only when these factors are addressed and corrected will this wanton destruction of young lives abate.

Childrens Hospital of Orange County ran three-quarter page newspaper ads several months ago depicting a pool filled with sand as a “safe” pool. Obviously, this idea will not appeal to the thousands of pool owners in the Southland. One must seriously consider, however, that the only sure way to prevent these disasters is to prevent access of the small child to the pool. A young couple with small children should seriously consider delaying the purchase of a pool, or a home with a pool, until their youngest child is older than 5. A pool with young children already in the house should be made permanently inaccessible to those children. Cover it. Drain it.

Certainly constant vigilance is mandatory. And certainly it is difficult. What must be remembered is that no family with a pool and young children is immune to the problem; that a child can drown in an amazingly short period of time, and that one can never be complacent about a pool in the backyard.

The effect of this problem on families and on our society is severe, as drowning has now assumed the dubious honor of being the leading cause of accidental death in this age group. The solutions I propose are rough. They are certainly the responsibility of the individual pool owner. But they will work. A little child’s life, your little child’s life, is certainly worth it.