Keeping Valley Pools Safe For Children

PALM SPRINGS – As the summer continues more and more kids will be hopping into resort pools.

Some of these resorts have lifeguards whileothers don’t. Some because of the tough economic times.

On Wednesday night, John Cahalan pulled a small boy from the Spa Resort pool in Palm Springs.

“I just went in with my clothes on and reached in and grabbed him,” Chalan recalled to us his harrowing experience. “I lifted him as high as I could over my head.”

As of right now, the resort doesn’t have lifeguards.

The same thing happened a little over a month ago at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort. An on-duty lifeguard saved a child.

Brad Ouellette of Rancho Las Palmas says the fact that a lifeguard is there is the reason families come to stay.

“They feel safe when they’re here, so they can relax,” says Ouellete.

But when is a lifeguard needed?

not all resorts have lifeguards. Some think it’s the parents responsibility.

“The resort is ultimately responsible for [the children swimming] but the parents need to keep track of them,” says Steven Boswell at the Ace Resort and Swim Club in Palm Springs.

A lifeguard will help, but it’s what’s underneath the surface of your pool that could be putting your childs life in danger. They are old drains at the bottom of the pool.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, from 1999 to 2008, there were at least 83 reported cases of suction drain entrapment, 11 of which resulted in death.

A federal law mandates public pools to have the new drain covers.

The problem is, according to pool drain installer Mike McKenna, no one is enforcing them.

The old drains can even be found in your neighbor’s pool.

The only pools required to have lifeguards are the ones that charge and if there is moving water.

As far as drains go, there’s a new bill being looked at the state capitol requiring local counties to enforce the new drain laws. It’s currently being looked at in the senate.