Unsafe pools: Why do people wait to take action?

By JANE MEINHARDT

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 24, 2000

The tragic cycle is familiar.

Each year as spring approaches and temperatures rise, the drownings begin. One, two, three and more children die in backyard pools.

After publicity about the deaths spreads, the telephone calls and inquiries to various safety agencies and services begin. Some parents want to know how to keep their children from becoming drowning statistics.

Then the interest wanes. The free pool evaluations, the safety courses and other measures offered to pool owners to help prevent drowning are ignored.

It is frustrating to people such as Art Brown, chairman of the West Central Florida Drowning Prevention Coalition. The coalition's hotline, which provides information about pool safety and evaluations, usually rings after -- not before -- children drown.

"We get so little response to this stuff," said Brown, who is public education director for Clearwater Fire & Rescue. "In the first year we had evaluations, we did 17 in a month after a couple of drownings. Then it would just die off. I think I've had three calls for evaluations this year."

But now he expects calls to the hotline to increase again. David A. Lewis, 2, and his 4-year-old brother, Peter Voskian, died last week after falling into an apartment complex pool in Safety Harbor. And 10-month-old Nichole Parker nearly drowned last Tuesday in her family's pool in East Lake.

Last year, 19 of 34 people who had what the coalition calls "submersion incidents" in Pinellas County pools died. Two were children younger than 10.

Drowning is Florida's leading cause of death in children up to age 4, which is why groups such as the coalition, the American Red Cross and other safety agencies offer prevention programs, and some companies provide pool fencing and youth swim lessons. They have learned that offering the programs is easy, but getting people to participate is not.

Ann Reishus, Oldsmar fire prevention specialist and a coalition member, once mailed letters to about 600 homeowners with pools in the city, offering them free pool safety evaluations. She received eight responses.

"We offer this service, but I guess people are kind of afraid," Reishus said. "Or it's the my-home-is-my-castle kind of thinking when we're just trying to get people to realize that there's a potential problem. It's like beating your head against a wall."

A pool safety evaluation gives a homeowner general information on water safety issues, looks for potential hazards and provides recommendations for safety measures such as fences and alarms.

It is a public service, not an inspection, and does not mean a homeowner will be cited. Only a handful of the more than 65,000 Pinellas homeowners with pools have had an evaluation.

"Our focus is on pools, and we're geared to acquaint homeowners with safety measures and educate them about their responsibilities," Brown said. "No one ever thinks it can happen to them. People just do not think their pools are unsafe. A pool is a beautiful thing, but, boy, when you have young children . . . whew."

The American Red Cross, which has been offering aquatic safety courses since the late 1800s, has been battling apathy by trying to market programs and tailor them for specific needs.

"I don't think it's that parents aren't willing; it just needs to be presented properly," said George Castrataro, health and safety director for the Tampa Bay Area chapter. "I think the perception is, "What can we tell them that they don't already know?' It falls on us to market and promote (safety programs) to show them what they'll learn."

For safety information

For information on pool safety and water safety programs, these agencies and programs are available:

The American Red Cross offers CPR and first aid courses and free aquatic safety courses. Contact the Tampa Bay Chapter toll-free at (877) 741-1444.

The West Central Florida Drowning Prevention Coalition provides speakers and free public education for events such as health fairs. A hotline has information on free pool evaluations, CPR and other safety courses. In Pinellas County, call 582-2074.

Clearwater Fire & Rescue also provides information on water safety. Call (727) 562-4327, ext. 3173.

Most municipalities provide water safety education information through their fire departments.

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