Georgia Swimming Pool Accident: Tragic Death Grim Reminder of Drowning Risk
The tragic news of a 4 year old Lawrenceville girl who died in a drowning accident despite Gwinnett County Fire Department personnel's attempts to rescue and resuscitate her was devastating for her family and the community. Unfortunately, tragic swimming pool accidents are not uncommon and most often claim small children as their victims.
This tragic accident serves as a grim reminder that while swimming pools can be a source of fun and joy for children, they can also be the source of great heartache if care and appropriate precautions are not taken to protect small children. Thousands of people are injured each year in swimming pool accidents, with the victims disproportionately being small children. The compassionate team at Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, knows the overwhelming pain that accompanies such accidents and have been working closely with families of such tragedies for over 39 years.
The greatest risk posed by swimming pools is the risk of drowning, which claims the lives of over 350 children per year while another 2,600 children receive medical treatment for near drowning accidents. Drowning accidents are often related to defective design, manufacture or maintenance of pool drains. Poorly constructed or maintained pool drains can lead to a child having a part of their body or clothing trapped underwater. Once a pool drain is obstructed, the power of the suction from the drain can increase so that a child cannot escape, causing brain damage from loss of oxygen or drowning. The suction can be so great that a child may even be disemboweled by the extreme pressure from the pool drain.
Drowning accidents also occur from failure to cover or fence a pool, or failure to supervise children when using a swimming pool. By way of further example, lifeguards can be distracted or not properly trained in public or private pools, or homeowners can fail to provide adequate supervision when children are playing in a swimming pool at their home. The property owner, property management company or homeowner can be liable for failure to properly supervise a child playing in a swimming pool, or for failing to properly fence or cover the pool so that children do not fall or jump in the pool when there is no one available to supervise them.
While drowning accidents are the most common type of serious swimming pool accidents, defective heaters or lifesaving equipment can also cause serious injuries. Anytime a defective product causes a serious injury or fatality, the company that designed or manufactured the defective pool equipment may be liable for injuries caused by the defective equipment or component parts under product liability law. At Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, we will carefully investigate any such pool related accident so that we can determine all parties that may have shared fault in causing the injuries to you or someone you love.
A significant number of swimming pool accidents also involve diving accidents which can result in very serious injuries including traumatic brain injury, head and neck injuries, paralysis or even death. These accidents are frequently the result of the pool not being designed correctly, so that the pool is too shallow where the diving board is positioned. The pool may also be insufficiently marked and appear deeper than it is so that swimmers dive in the pool thinking the depth of the water makes it safe to do so. The Georgia swimming pool accident attorneys at Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, have been helping the victims of swimming pool accidents throughout Atlanta and the State of Georgia since 1984. We are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia including, but not limited to, Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller and rural towns in the state. Call us today for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333), or visit us on the web at www.montlick.com. No matter where you are, we are just a phone call away.