Portable Pools Are A Drowning Risk For Kids
A new study is telling us that portable pools may pose a bigger risk to our kids than we previously thought.
About two dozen kids drown each year in portable pools, according to a study published today in Pediatrics. Nearly all of those children are under the age of 5.
Unlike permanent pools, portable pools usually aren't required to meet any local safety standards, says study author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Smith notes that portable pools are increasingly popular and come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and makes. Hard-plastic wading pools, which hold about 18 inches of water, may cost only a few dollars at a local drugstore. Family-size, inflatable pools, nearly as large as a small, in-ground pool, can cost closer to $1,000, he says.
These pools pose unique risks, says Meri-K Appy, president of Safe Kids USA, an advocacy group. Few people, for example, are willing to invest in building a safety fence around a portable pool - one of the best ways to prevent drownings - because a fence could cost more than the pool itself.
"These pools are too small for people to invest in an isolation fence but too large to drain every time," Appy says.
About 11% of all pool drowning deaths in kids under 5 take place in portable pools, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says.
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