Children's Safety Zone

If you have a pool, you’re probably going to be spending at least part of the next few days in it.

But every person who spends time with children needs to realize having a pool, or any water near kids, is a huge responsibility.

“Justin and Eric were born July 12, 2007,” remembered Elisa Hart.

It was a happy surprise when Hart found out she was having twins, but it was a blessing that would be short lived.

Eric was just 2 1/2-years-old when he drowned in the backyard pool.

Hart still has trouble talking about it and admitting what went wrong that day.

“There was a piece of screen dug up by my dog,” she said.

A big enough chunk of the window’s screen was missing for Eric to climb through.

“There’s just enough space between the Arizona room and the pool, so he knocked himself unconscious, broke his collarbone and slipped right into the pool,” she said.

A year later, there’s a constant reminder that where there’s one little boy there should be two.

Smiling pictures push the Harts to do the impossible — talk about the tragedy in the hope of educating others.

“I hate to say it, but learn from what happened to me,” Hart said.

“It’s been pretty awful this year,” said Lori Schmidt with the Drowning Prevention Coalition of AZ.

But is that unusual?

As far as officials being called out to potential drownings, Arizona is right on track with about 30 by this time of year across the board for the past five years.

But this year, the number of deaths has doubled.

CBS 5 News wanted to know why.

“We have families who are stressed. We have families moving in with their parents,” Schmidt explained.

Schmidt said the economy is a big factor because people are constantly worrying and not as focused as they should be.

She said some are relying on grandparents and other family members to help raise kids, people who might not be as savvy when it comes to safety.

“You have to assume this can happen to you, and you need to know you can prevent it,” she said.

Schmidt said most drownings aren’t a lack of supervision, but a lapse of supervision.

Make sure all your safety precautions are up to date — pool fences, window and door locks and that your window screens are in tact.

And if you do notice a child is missing, check the pools and bathtubs first.

Shaquelle Massey learned CPR and first aid while working at a YMCA camp in Anchorage, Alaska, and it came in handy when he noticed a boy floating at the bottom of his apartment complex pool.

According to The East Valley Tribune, Massey, 19, was walking by the pool at the Fiesta Park Apartments and noticed a boy on the bottom.

“I was just walking by the pool,” Massey said. “When I first saw him, I thought he was playing a joke, but after not seeing him move at all for about three seconds, I knew he was in trouble. I jumped in the pool, pulled him out and called 911. He started coughing and spitting up water.”

Paramedics revived the boy at the scene and took him to Banner Cardon Children’s Medical Center.

Massey is a sociology major at Mesa Community College and plays for the school’s football team.

Ed Swift is the founder of Children’s Safety Zone, a Phoenix-based organization which reports water-related incidents in Arizona and promotes water safety.

He said supervision and barriers are essential to children’s safety around water, and that just because summer is over incidents of drowning continue due to Arizona’s hot weather late into the year.

“Drownings never stop,” Swift said. “They are more prevalent in the summer, but in the fall, pools aren’t too cool to get into yet. You always need to have barriers up and make sure the kids are being watched.”

On September 28, 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted 3-2 to interpret an unblockable pool or spa drain based on the size of the drain opening and not the size of the drain cover used over the sump. This is an important decision for the pool safety community to be aware of, as CPSC continues to implement the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.

The Commissioners heard from some members of Congress and families who have lost their children in drain entrapment incidents, and both groups informed our agency that the law was intended to require a back-up system or device, if a public pool or spa has a single main drain that is of a blockable size (smaller than 18″ x 23″). Since the law went into effect in December 2008, many public pool and spa operators with blockable sized single main drain systems installed a VGB compliant drain cover and an automatic pump shut-off device or SVRS device (or already had a gravity drainage system or suction-limiting vent system, which are two of the other back-up options). CPSC commends all of those public pool and spa operators who took steps to come into compliance with this important child safety law.

On April 6, 2010, the Commission approved an interpretation of the VGB Act’s definition of “unblockable drain” to include the installation of an unblockable drain cover over a small, blockable, drain suction outlet; thus eliminating the requirement of a secondary backup system. The vote of the Commission this week revoked the 2010 interpretation and re-establishes the interpretation described above, where a back-up system or device is required on single main drains that are blockable.

It is very important for the pool and spa industry to be aware that CPSC is not saying that unblockable sized drain covers should be removed from facilities that installed them on small single main drains. Rather, the Commission is directing pool and spa operators to add a back-up system or device. The Commissioners and the staff, in fact, recognize that unblockable sized drain covers are an advance in pool safety. Yet, layers of protection are an important principal that the VGB Act promotes.

Again, this message only affects public pools and spas that used CPSC’s 2010 interpretation to install an unblockable sized drain cover over a blockable sized single main drain, without adding a back-up system or device.

The Commission has set a compliance date of May 28, 2012, to allow time for firms that require modifications as a result of this revocation to bring their pools into compliance with the statute as written. During the public hearing this week, the Commissioners voted to open up a public comment period, so that all of you can inform the Commission whether May 28, 2012 is a reasonable compliance date for installation of the required back-up system. The comment period will start when the Commission’s decision is published in the Federal Register and we will let you know when that happens.

We hope the explanation above helps you understand what occurred at CPSC this week. Please write to poolsafely@cpsc.gov if you have any questions.

A 1-year-old girl was found unattended in a Goodyear backyard pool Wednesday morning.

The girl was staying with her grandmother and great-grandmother near Thomas and Litchfield while her parents were in Canada, said Goodyear Deputy Fire Chief Russ Braden.

The grandmother left the sliding backdoor open around 7:00 a.m., however, the screen remained closed, Braden said.

Later the grandmother realized the screen had been pushed open and the girl was “flailing” in the pool, Braden said.

The grandmother ran to a nearby neighbor’s home to get help, Braden said. The neighbor was able to resuscitate the girl who appeared fine when Goodyear Fire Department arrived.

“She looked good, her color was good and she was engaging with the environment,” Braden said. “I saw her when she was in the ambulance and I believe she left the scene stable.”

She was taken to a local hospital and her current condition is unknown.

PHOENIX — An 18-month-old toddler was pulled from a backyard swimming pool at his grandparent’s home Thursday morning.

Phoenix Fire’s Scott McDonald said the toddler got out through a doggy door and nearly drowned in the deep end of the pool.

“They were able to get him out, get him in the house,” McDonald said. “The 18-month-old’s father who was also home at the time, started CPR. The boy was lifeless, lethargic, lips were purple. The boy responded pretty quickly to the CPR.”

McDonald said the boy was responsible when crews got to the home, near 35th Avenue and Bell. He was taken to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition.