Seven-year-old Day Camper Nearly Drowns in Pasadena Pool
A 7-year-old boy participating in a Altadena day camp program nearly drowned in the John Muir High School pool on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 according to a report in the Pasadena Star News.
The day campers were spending the day at the high school’s pool when a lifeguard spotted the boy in the water. A lifeguard pulled him out and CPR was immediately administered. When paramedics arrived the boy had a pulse but was not breathing on his own.
Let’s all keep this little guy in our prayers for a full recovery. Many near drowning victims suffer brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Let’s hope this boy and his parents suffer nothing more than a horrendous scare.
Swimming pool drownings in Southern California are nothing new. What is unique about this near drowning is that it happened at a public pool with life guards on duty and with, supposed, professional supervision. In California there are nearly twice as many drownings in backyard pools than in all other pools combined.
Los Angeles County has more than twice as many near drownings, over two hundred a year, as San Diego and Orange counties combined. LA, San Diego and Orange counties account for half of all near drownings in California.
When a parent sends their child to day camp, they are expecting that their child will be safe, especially around water. I am sure this day camp provider is checking their liability releases and calling their insurance company. They are in deep trouble. There is no excuse for this type of a swimming accident at a public pool involving a seven-year-old day camper. The camp organizers have a very high duty of care, which was apparently violated in this case.
I’ll bet the insurance company for the camp has already investigated this unfortunate event and is trying to line up their witnesses and stories to avoid liability. If this boy has any injury at all, expect there will be a claim. If the parents have the right law firm, the case will settle and never get to court, that is how bad I see the case for the camp organizers.
Let’s hope this doesn’t apply but a brain injury to this boy will cost the boy and his family millions of dollars in care and lost income across the boy’s life time. The last California brain injury case that we did the "life care plan", what it was going to take in terms of dollars to sustain the boy with his various special needs, exceeded $15 million dollars.
Comments
What an unfortunate event, but there is hope that the boy will be able to recover. We run an informational blog/website on TBI and SCI so while it's not uncommon to hear of stories like this, we do hold hope for recovery.
Posted by: Amy | July 7, 2008 7:04 PM
While this story is unfortunate and is one we hear of alot these days, there are some points I would like to make.
First of all, Some of these day camps are clueless and are always trying to save money when it comes to employing lifeguards and staffing pools. The American Red Cross has established guidelines for lifeguards to swimmer ratios and from what I have seen, most do not follow the guidelines thereby increasing the chance for a drowning or near-drowning. When there are many swimmers in the pool without adequate lifeguards, you can sure bet that something is going to be overlooked!!
Some of these day camps do not conduct background checks or initiate skills testing of the lifeguards they hire. This is a very dangerous practice. Most never offer in-service training for its guards to ensure proficiency of skills.
The burden will definitely be on the day camp to explain why it may not have had enough guards or properly trained guards on site.
I have been in fire/ems for 20 years and I now have one of the most successful EMS standby companies in Los Angeles. I know what can happen around a pool and I also know how important it is to have a staff that is proficient in their skills and who are extremely sharp. Look, we are talking about human lives which can not be replaced. I wish I could reach out to all those day camps, those aquatic management companies or even other lifeguard companies and tell them to quit hiring anyone who has a heartbeat without checking their backgrounds and testing their skills before entrusting them with people's lives. This is my passion to look out for others and to serve them with the knowledge and experience I have gained.
Geez people, wake up!!
Posted by: Capt. Ed Castillo | July 17, 2008 6:54 PM