High School Freshman Dies in School Swimming Pool Drowning

Posted by Jesse Guerra on January 27, 2012

Texas pool accidentThe Hartford Courant reported this month on the tragic drowning death of a young high school freshman.  Our swimming pool drowning lawyer knows that the worst season for these accidents is the summer, when many more people hit the waters to beat the heat.  However, it should not be forgotten that winter tragedies also occur.  Wherever there is water, the risks of injury are present. 

What seems particularly disturbing about this latest incident is that the drowning occurred in the middle of a high school swim class.  According to the story, 15-year old Marcum Asiamah, a freshman at East Hartford School, was participating in a swimming class with other students when the tragedy struck.  Details about the incident remain murky, and local authorities have yet to release any concrete findings.  What little has been reported suggests that no one knows for sure when the boy went under water.  All that is known is that at some point during the lesson he was spotted at the bottom of the pool by other swimmers.  Those nearby pulled him out of the water and emergency responders were called.  CPR was being performed when the crew arrived, but it was to no avail.  The boy did not survive the incident.

The school’s superintendent issued a very brief statement noting that “student safety is of paramount concern, and the school district will continue to work with the East Hartford Police Department to investigate this incident.  The pool will remain closed pending this investigation.”

Obviously Marcum’s family and friends—as well as all concerned community members—likely have many questions.  The most obvious one would be how the young man could have fallen under the water surrounded by others without someone noticing before it was too late.  It is particularly shocking when one considers that there must have been teachers or other adults around providing supervision and leading the less.  It is unacceptable for lax supervision to be provided to students at these times—particularly because the students likely have no choice but to participate in the lesson.

It will be incumbent upon all those involved to ask very tough questions to figure out exactly what happened here.  Our swimming pool drowning lawyer knows that a range of factors could have been in play.  Beyond figuring out whether there was proper supervision, other issues need to be addressed.  For example, water clarity may have been involved.  If the water was even the least bit murky, the cloudiness may have prevented observers from seeing the struggling student quickly enough when he slipped under.

If you or someone you know is dealing with a situation such as the one here, be sure to get in touch with legal professionals to learn more about how the law applies in these cases.  Our national renowned swimming pool accident attorney, Jesse Guerra, has worked on dozens of cases just like this one.  Known as the nation’s “go to” pool drowning lawyer and swimming safety advocate, Mr. Guerra helps families in the aftermath of these incidents who want to ensure that another tragedy is prevented.

 

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Swimming Pool Drowning in Front of Nine Lifeguards Leads to $10 Million Jury Verdict

Posted by Jesse Guerra on December 22, 2011

lifesaver.jpgIn the midst of the holidays and the cold that grips large parts of the country, it is often difficult to think about the prime swimming season.  It is unlikely that many residents of Chicago, New York, or other northern cities are thinking about swimming in outdoor pools that are closed or lakes that are frozen over.   However, our swimming pool accident lawyer knows that swimming takes place each and every day in various parts of the country in both indoor and outdoor pools.  That is why it remains important to share reminders about the importance of safe swimming and maintenance throughout the year.

For example, North Jersey News recently reported on a jury verdict that was handed down in a swimming pool case involving a13-year old boy who drowned in the summer of 2008.  The boy, Soo Hyeon Park, was visiting the city of Ridgewood from South Korea and the family was using the public Graydon Pool.  There were nine lifeguards in the stands around the pool on the day that the accident took place.  However, when the young child began to struggle staying afloat, not one of those guards noticed.  The boy was underwater for a considerable period of time before a family friend noticed him and attempted a rescue.  The friend told the mother of the problem who then alerted the lifeguards.  Tragically, even then, the pool manager only ordered the guards to search for the boy around the pool, instead of actually sending them inside the pool.  It wasn’t until 40 minutes later that the boy was actually pulled from the water.  The family eventually filed a swimming pool lawsuit alleging negligent supervision of the pool and inadequate lifeguard response.  Late last month the jury agreed with the family and awarded them the verdict.

As the family’s swimming pool drowning attorney noted, “there were actually lifeguards who were searching the parking lot.  They should have seen this child as he was drowning.  They should have gone in and saved him.  That’s what lifeguards do.”

This is a sad reminder that the mere presence of lifeguards are of little value to swimmers if those guards do not act appropriately to help those in danger.  In fact, inadequate lifeguards may actually be worse than no lifeguards at all.  This is because many onlookers provide less oversight than they normally would under the assumption that lifeguards are around to help in case something happens.  

As our national drowning lawyer at the J. Guerra Law Firm has explained to various audiences, it remains essential for all lifeguards to be properly trained and follow basic rules while on duty.  For one thing, they must be mentally fresh.  Studies have found that it is almost impossible to effectively scan a pool effectively for more than 30 minutes at a time.  Lifeguards needs 5 or 10 minute “reset” breaks between each of those sessions to ensure that they are actually capable of spotting a struggling swimmer while observing the pool.  Tired eyes on lifeguards render them ineffective. 

Similarly, it is important for guards to be rotated, because studies show that staying in the same place for too long decreases attention span.  Considering the need for proper rest, it is therefore important that there be enough staff members on duty at a pool so that no single guard is forced to work more than possible at maximum effectiveness.  Failure to account for these known risk factors may be an example of negligent pool supervision.   

 

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Daytona Beach Shores Hotel Pool Drowning Takes Life of Toddler

Posted by Jesse Guerra on November 22, 2011

indoor hotel pool 3.jpgOur hotel drowning lawyer was shocked and saddened after learning of the death of a 2 year-old Orlando child in a Daytona Beach Shores hotel pool accident on October 28, 2011. The drowning occurred at approximately 12:15 p.m. at the Oceanside Inn Hotel on South Atlantic Avenue. The hotel surveillance video camera captured the events and showed the young boy was with family members at the swimming pool.  However, while swimming in the hotel pool the child began to struggle, and he eventually went under water.  It was over nine minutes before the drowning child was noticed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

Hotel swimming pools, like the one in this story, pose great risk to the customers of the hotel. Among the hotel customers, children are the ones that typically lack the mental capacity to understand the risks posed and are too often the victims. It is important that the children and all users of hotel swimming pools be protected to the fullest extent required by law. All hotels that choose to provide swimming pools for their customers need to have in place a safety plan and safety mechanisms to ensure hotel pool drownings like the ones that occurred in this story are prevented.  Failure to do so is often a sign of negligence.   

This story is one of many across the nation that demonstrates the failure of supervision and the failure to implement other safeguards for the hotel swimming pool.  It is unfortunately too often that the owners of hotels do not prioritize the safety of its swimming pool users. Year after year some facilities continue to ignore the risks presented by their aquatic activities and fail to take proper steps that could have be implemented to prevent the hotel pool drowning and save the lives of their customers.  Hotel owners and operators have a legal duty to their customers to prevent tragic deaths when they choose to facilitate a swimming pool for their hotel. Once this duty is breached by their failure to provide simple and required safety mechanisms, the owners and operators must be held liable.  This liability will ensure that the owners will correct their poor safety precautions and prevent future tragedies.

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Boy Drowns in MCM Grand Hotel Fundome Swimming Pool Accident

Posted by Jesse Guerra on October 24, 2011

Our Texas hotel drowning lawyer was saddened today to learn of the death of four-year-old Reece Mitchel at the MCM Grande Hotel in Odessa, Texas.  According to reports the accident struck this Friday night, shortly before 8 p.m.  The young child was at the hotel swimming pool with other siblings and an adult aunt.  The group was enjoying the water when one of the boy’s siblings saw Reece at the bottom of the pool.  It was clear that the child was in trouble, and he was quickly pulled from the water.  The boy’s aunt began performing CPR, and she was soon joined by several other bystanders.  Local paramedics tried to save the child’s life when they arrived but, there was little that could be done.  He was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.  Local authorities are still investigating the tragic MCM Grande hotel swimming pool drowning to determine exactly what happened and whether anything could have been done to prevent it.indoor hotel pool 

Unfortunately, many hotel owners and operators fail to prioritize pool safety.  Public swimming pools, such as the one in this MCM Grande Hotel, may pose inherent dangers to those who use the facility.  Children are particularly prone to falling victim to these accidents, because they do not understand the risks.  While the details surrounding this latest accident are still being sorted out, it is important for all those involved in this accident take steps to protect their legal rights. 

Unfortunately, many of the companies who run facilities like hotels fail to follow reasonable standards steps which could prevent these accidents.  Widespread knowledge about the dangers of the water makes it vital that those in a position to enact safeguards to protect swimmers actually do so.  For one thing, it is essential that these facilities have an emergency action plan in place so that steps are taken immediately that can save the life of a child who has been involved in one of these hotel drowning accidents. Hotel guests have a reasonable expectation that certain safety steps will be in place when they use these aquatic facilities.  When a child dies in one of these accidents a thorough investigation into the situation often reveals that the pool operators did not do everything which the law usually expects to help prevent accidents and save lives once an accident has occurred.

Our Texas hotel drowning attorney at the Jesse Guerra Law Firm is familiar with the hotel owners and operators who run the facility involved in this latest accident.  Jesse Guerra Jr. has represented victims in legal actions against these MCM Grande owners on two separate occasions in the last two years.  This latest incident means that the facilities run by this organization have been the site of three deadly drownings in the last two years alone.  It is tragic that so many local children continue to lose their lives in accidents that might have been prevented.  If you or a loved one were involved in this accident or a similar hotel pool drowning, please get in touch with our experienced pool lawyer to learn how we can help.  We work with victims in Texas and throughout the nation to ensure that facility owners are held accountable for their conduct and take steps to prevent future tragedies.        

 

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Medical Examiner Deems Swimming Pool Death An Accident

Posted by Jesse Guerra on October 13, 2011

Our swimming pool drowning attorney knows that determining the cause of death in most swimming pool accidents is easy.  In a public pool, there are typically many others who witness the accident.  It is usually obvious that an accidental drowning was the cause of death.  Even when a swimming pool drowning accident occurs in a private pool, there are often witnesses who can describe the events as they occurred, helping authorities to understand the situation.  But when a dead body is discovered in a swimming pool after the fact, it is not always obvious that the individual actually drown in an accident.  Sometimes the deceased drown as a result of foul play.  Occasionally the death has nothing to do with a pool at all, but instead is simply the location where the body is dumped.


As The Walton Sun recently reported, a medical examiner’s report concluded that the death of an area businessman was an accident.  In July, the dead body of a 50 year old man was discovered in his estranged wife’s swimming pool.  He was found with his body submerged under water in the deep end, where the depth was 8 feet.broken fence.jpg 

Because of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body, local officials performed an autopsy.  The medical examiner determined that his neck and back injuries were consistent with a diving accident.  Toxicology results show that he had alcohol and a number of prescription medications in his blood when he died.   Examiners were not able to determine if he was conscious or not when he drowned.

Cases like this, where the cause of death is not obvious, can be challenging for family members trying to seek judicial relief.  An attorney representing the injured party or victim’s family members has the burden of convincing a jury what happened.  In a negligence suit, for example, the lawyer will need to show what caused the man’s death and all the elements of negligence.  For example, in addition to showing that the owner had a duty to enclose the pool with a fence and breached that duty, the lawyer will need to show that the man accidently died when he fell in the pool.

Negligence is an example of a civil suit.  In a civil case, the burden of proof is the preponderance of evidence.  Though there is no exact formula for determining what this means, generally it is understood to mean more than 50 percent.  So, if a jury thinks that there is more than a 50% chance that the man accidently drown while drunk and there was no fence to protect him from stumbling into the pool, then the case against the pool owner might be successful.

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Swimming Pool Drowning Leads to Criminal Charges

Posted by Jesse Guerra on October 06, 2011

Texas pool accidentThis week our swimming pool drowning lawyer was surpised to learn about the latest developments in a high profile drowning incidnet.  In June, a Massachusetts woman drowned in a public swimming pool.  The water was so murky that her dead body went unnoticed for two days.  Only when it floated to the surface did lifeguards discover the accident.  Officials closed the pool after they discovered her body, and law enforcement officials have been investigating the incident since then.  Recently, prosecutors announced that they will be filing criminal charges in connection to the events.

As reported by the Associated Press, prosecutors will not be filing charges for the death of Marie Joseph, the woman who died.  But they will be filing charges for reckless endangerment since children were allowed to swim in water that was so cloudy the visibility for lifeguard was only four feet.   The charges are not expected to be pressed against anyone who worked at the pool that day, but against management level officials.  The regional director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the South Coast district manager will most likely be the individuals facing criminal liability.

The Massachusetts case is important for those who follow swimming pool accident news for many reasons.  The events leading to the death of Ms. Joseph were unusual and tragic and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body were unsettling.  But the fact that criminal charges will be filed makes this case unusual.  Many swimming pool accidents result in lawsuits when the pool owners or operators are negligent.  Criminal charges, however, signify a much more serious problem.

A negligence suit is a typical example of a civil suit.  In a civil suit, the suit is initiated by a private party, either a person or a corporation.  For the most part, the result of a successful civil suit is damages in the form of money.  Often this means compensation for the damage done and sometime it includes punitive damages—extra money as a form of punishment.  Criminal suits are always commenced by the government, either state or federal.  The results of a successful criminal suit can be varied, sometimes a fine, sometimes jail time and occasionally both.

Since the government must be involved in a criminal case, not all apparently criminal activity is prosecuted.  The government often saves its resources for the most egregious offenses and smaller incidents are left to the civil system.  The fact that prosecutors are willing to file criminal charges in connection with Joseph’s death, though they are not against officials for her death, illustrates the significance of the extent of the problems at the public pool in Massachusetts.

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Toddler Using Floatation Device Drowns in Swimming Pool

Posted by Jesse Guerra on October 05, 2011

Devices that help swimmers float are supposed to be fun and safe.  Advertisers typically depict adults relaxing on floating chairs and children happily jumping in the pool wearing inflatable bands around their arms.  But what this blissful picture does not show is the false sense of security that comes with these items.  Swimming pool accidents can occur when inexperienced swimmers rely too heavily on assistance.  One family recently experienced a terrible loss when the floats used by their two-year-old were not enough to prevent her drowning death.

The Mirror just published a story about an English family who came to visit relatives in the United States this August when disaster struck.  The family, including the two-year-old, a seven-year-old and the mother were swimming in the grandparents’ pool.  The mother walked away from the pool with the older daughter to get a drink from the kitchen.  Moments later, the grandmother found the toddler face down in the pool.  The child died soon after.  Depending on the details of this and similar situations, the family may have had legal recourse against the manufacturer of the floatation device.

Manufacturers of consumer goods are responsible for making their products as safe as possible.  Not only do the normal rules of negligence apply, but in certain circumstances, strict liability can come into play.  Under the rules of negligence, the person asserting a claim must show a duty and breach of that duty.  If the person was being as careful as possible, it is impossible to show they were negligent.  Under a strict liability standard, however, the level of care is irrelevant. beach float

Instead, to show strict liability, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the product had a manufacturing defect, a design defect, or an information defect.  In other words, if the product was designed in such a way that made it dangerous, the product was designed well but not made according to the design or not accompanied by an adequate warning, the manufacturer might be liable under this theory.  For example, if a float was designed in such a way that an unconscious child tipped forward with their face in the water instead of on their back with their face up, the family might be able to successfully sue the maker of the float in the case of a drowning accident. Or if the float was supposed to have a flap in the back to hold a child’s head above water but was made incorrectly, the manufacturer could also be held liable for a subsequent swimming pool accident.

Our Texas swimming pool accident attorney at the J. Guerra Law Firm has years of experience dealing with the aftermath of swimming pool tragedies.  He is knowledgeable about the various ways the makers of pool safety equipment can be found liable in the event that their products contribute to a swimmer’s death.  If you know someone who was injured or killed after a problem with a swimming pool apparatus, contact our pool drowning lawyer at the firm.  We can evaluate your claim and give you advice on the best way to proceed.

 

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New Swimming Pool Regulation Might Impact Public Swimming Pools in Texas

Posted by Jesse Guerra on October 04, 2011

drain.pngCongress and administrative agencies in Washington are continually considering new laws and regulations focused in part on making Americans safer.  Rules intended to limit swimming pool accidents are no exception.  Recently the commission that governs swimming pool safety revised rules regarding a 2008 law in an effort to prevent horrible accident where children are trapped in pool drains.

As ABC-7 in El Paso recently reported, the Consumer Product Safety Commission just voted to revoke guidance it issued about a year and a half ago.  The guidance was released to help public pools comply with a 2008 law.  The law in question changed how swimming pool drains must be protected in order to minimize the chance that swimmers are trapped under water.  The law was passed after several children drowned after they were caught in drains.  The original guidance issued about eighteen months ago permitted “unblockable” drain covers.  But lately concerns have grown that unblockable drains can break, become loose, or be installed incorrectly.  In those instances, the unblockable drain cannot function as designed, making it ineffective in protecting swimmers from the drain.  The new guidance instead requires that public pools have a back-up system that can completely shut down suction in the case of an emergency.

Opponents of the new regulation fear that it will be costly.  And pools that do not have a back-up system may not be able to open in May, if one is not installed before the beginning of the swimming season.  Supporters of the new rule believe it will save lives.  It is not clear how many public pools in Texas will be impacted by the new rule.  Nonetheless, the new rule may have a major impact in the unfortunate event that a swimmer is entrapped.

Our Texas swimming pool lawyer knows these change in regulations may also impact future accident lawsuits.  Legal negligence rules generally require a showing of a duty and a breach of that duty for a plaintiff to established that a defendant should be held liable for the consequences of an accident.  In some instances, however, violation of a law (such as these new regulations) can be prima facie evidence of negligence.  Proof of that rule’s violation may be enough to assume negligence.  In other words, it means that breaking the law can satisfy the first step in a lawsuit.  Rather than forcing the plaintiff to show all the elements of his or her case, when a prima facie case has been satisfied, the plaintiff is able to move forward and the defense must rebut the charges.

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Toddler Sneaks into Swimming Pool and Drowns

Posted by Jesse Guerra on September 29, 2011

Though the swimming season is drawing to an end for most people, many private pools are not yet closed for the winter.  This means the potential for tragic swimming pool accidents remains.  One family recently experienced heartbreak when their 16 month old son died after entering the family’s pool unsupervised.

lifesaver.jpgAn article in the Press Democrat described the horrible events that took place earlier this month.  The youngster’s parents were up in their bedroom on Sunday night.  The boy’s mother was resting in bed, recovering from a back injury caused by a car accident several days earlier.  The child was playing in the bedroom.  The boy’s father left the room for a couple of minutes.  When he returned, the toddler was gone. 

The father searched the house for the child and discovered that a sliding glass door on the main level was open.  The door led directly to the fenced-in area around the pool.  He looked in the yard for his son and found the baby face down in the shallow part of the pool.  Family members performed CPR and paramedics quickly arrived.  The child was transported to a local hospital but he died the following day.

Police investigating the incident believe it was an accident.  But disasters like this happen all too often, as our Texas swimming pool accident attorney knows from years of experience.  Unlike this case, however, frequently accidents are due to negligence.  Many times the last thing on the mind of family members after losing a loved one, especially a young child, is preserving their legal rights.  But in the event that someone you know is injured or killed in a swimming pool accident due to the neglect of someone else, contacting an attorney soon after the event is critical.

Time is of the essence because in Texas, there is a two year statute of limitations for all personal injury or wrongful death claims.  That means that the injured party or family members has only two years to file a lawsuit starting from the day the accident occurred or when the family member died.  Much preparation can be required before a lawsuit is ready to be filed.  In order to do that, family members must contact an attorney well before the two year mark.  This enables an attorney to research the accident and supporting laws to present the most convincing case possible.

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Teenager with Seizures Dies in Swimming Pool Accident

Posted by Jesse Guerra on September 28, 2011

Drowning is one of the most common causes of swimming pool accidents.  But the causes of drowning accidents are diverse.  Some drowning victims are individuals who cannot swim and have difficulty after they enter water that is too deep.  Others are strong swimmers who run into trouble when they get tired.  Still others drown when an unrelated underlying conditions cause them to lose consciousness. 

Understanding the factors that lead to a particular drowning is critical when assessing liability afterwards.  Stuff recently published an article about the story of young man with a seizure condition who died six days after losing consciousness in a pool.  The sixteen year old was in a pool with two friends.  Before the accident, the youngsters had been competing to see who could hold their breath the longest.  One of the kids realized there was a problem when he noticed this friend had not surfaced for a while.  The teenage was brought to a nearby hospital and remained unconscious for six days.  He died of related brain injuries.

It is not clear if the young man was holding his breath when he lost consciousness.  However, the coroner did discover that the boy was not taking his anti-seizure medication at the time of the accident.  The coroner did not express any concerns about the safety of the pool.  It thus seems likely that a seizure caused him to lose consciousness and fall to the bottom of the pool, preventing him from breathing.

As our Texas swimming pool accident attorney knows, many substances can interfere with a swimmer’s ability to use water safety.  Pool owners and operators must take care that all swimmers can use pools without the risk of injury.  While this does not mean preventing individuals with special needs from using pools, it does mean providing extra protective measures when the owner or operator has knowledge of special circumstances.

Private backyard pools should always be protected by a gate, because young children in the neighborhood might be attracted to the pool and use it without supervision.  It is negligence of a pool owner not to prevent small children from entering a pool without an adult present.  Similarly, if a pool owner or operator knows that a swimmer has a condition that could increase the chances of an accident, it is negligent not to provide extra assistance.  For example, knowing that a guest might lose consciousness because of a seizure disorder is enough to raise the standard of care.  The same is true if the guest has an impairment such as decreased vision or mobility,  In these situations, it is important to have an adult present who is trained in CPR to provide assistance if necessary.

The swimming pool accident lawyer at the J. Guerra Law Firm have years of experience dealing with the aftermath of swimming pool accidents.  In the event that you or someone you know experiences a swimming pool related injury, contact us.  We can examine the circumstances that led to the accident and help you determine if there was negligence that gives rise to a viable lawsuit.

 

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