4-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Wave Pool at California Water Park

[KR2tonenow]

Less than a week after the drowning of a 4-year-old boy in Great America's wave pool, a San Jose legislator said Tuesday that she would introduce a bill aimed at making wave pools safer, including rules requiring life vests and setting requirements for the number of lifeguards on hand.
"Parents have a false sense of safety that their children are safe and protected in these wave pools," said Democratic state Sen. Elaine Alquist.

She envisions a bill that would:
Require life vests for non-swimmers or children under 4 feet tall.
Prohibit children under a certain height or age from being in a pool unattended.
Set a required ratio for the number of lifeguards per swimmer.
Require parks to set off an alarm or signal before waves start.

Great America already rings a bell. As of this week, the Santa Clara park began requiring life vests for children under 4 feet tall for the wave pool and the Castaway Creek river ride, said park spokesman Gene Fruge`. The requirement is now in effect at wave pools and some other water rides at all of Ohio-based Cedar Fair's 18 parks, as well as at nine water parks owned by Palace Entertainment, including San Jose's Raging Waters.


More at link:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_6401692

Thanks for the excellent information!

 

[Truthful Lies]

Just to let everyone know...

there is technology, besides parental supervision, that can help prevent drownings. I don't hold much stock in it...basically...a laser scans the water and bottom of the pool/area and alerts when something more than, say 5lbs (to allow for toys, etc.) doesn't move for more than 30 seconds. I don't think too much of the technology..by the time a child is on the bottom, things are VERY bad. I do think it's better than nothing, and can CERTAINLY help on holidays where guards cannot see the bottom due to oil, weave (gross, huh?), toys, overcrowding, etc. Most children who are resuscitated spend over a year in the hospital and most never live a "normal" life. This technology has been around for at least 4 years. Not sure where it's implemented. Can find out if anyone seriously wants to know.

 

[pedinurse]

Just to let everyone know...

there is technology, besides parental supervision, that can help prevent drownings. I don't hold much stock in it...basically...a laser scans the water and bottom of the pool/area and alerts when something more than, say 5lbs (to allow for toys, etc.) doesn't move for more than 30 seconds. I don't think too much of the technology..by the time a child is on the bottom, things are VERY bad. I do think it's better than nothing, and can CERTAINLY help on holidays where guards cannot see the bottom due to oil, weave (gross, huh?), toys, overcrowding, etc. Most children who are resuscitated spend over a year in the hospital and most never live a "normal" life. This technology has been around for at least 4 years. Not sure where it's implemented. Can find out if anyone seriously wants to know.

exactly - it would be bad. let's say the child is in the very deep end of the wave pool in the violent waves. with that technology... the child is a goner by the time the scanner finds then.

 

[Truthful Lies]

I have not heard of them being used in wave pools..just regular ones or man-made beaches. Would be useless in a wavepool if everything is moving...sorry I didn't specify that! =)

 

[CaliKid]

New Mom I know they do!! That is why I asked what everyone's swimming experience was.
I have been raised in the ocean my entire life... I also live in Florida where we have MANY water theme parks with wave pools ...
I believe these pools need to have at the very least a warning to those not familiar with swimming in the Ocean as well as a mandatory vest wearing policy for children.
Just like boats do.
On the same token I believe that parents who leave their children unsupervised near water are morons.

I could easily see how someone who is a strong swimmer on a lake or pool would be at risk in an ocean or even a wave pool.
Unless you have experienced it (as you did Newmom) there is simply noway to be prepared for swimming in high waves if you never have.

Living on the ocean in one of the worlds largest tourist spots, it never ceases to amaze me the people who will let there kids play in OBVIOUSLY dangerous waves.
I mean most often you can tell these people have not seen an Ocean a day in their lives and they are seemingly lulled into some sense of security because of its picturesque quality with no awareness of the danger or any knowledge of water safety beyond that of a back yard pool.

One body of water is not the same as another.

I get really upset with my youngest kids for going too far out and am constantly admonishing them about thinking they're better swimmers than they are. But I guess the one I should've been watching out for is me.

I've lived in California since I was a child (military family), and I had swimming lessons up the whazzoo when I was younger. My sister, now living on the East Coast, came out to visit last summer and we, of course, went to the beach. There was a strong rip current that day, but we figured, hey we can handle anything. We aren't stupid enough to get caught in some dumb riptide. We were out beyond the breakers, just talking and floating, and all of a sudden we noticed lifeguards swimming toward us. I looked down and noticed I couldn't see the bottom anymore. Unbeknownst to us, we were right in the middle of the current and being dragged out. It took a long time to get back into safe water, and I was never so scared in my life. Looking back, had there not been a lifeguard, we probably would've drowned.

 

[CaliKid]

We moved to Florida from Indiana when my son was 6. Up until that time he was extremely terrified of water. I had a terrible fear of him drowning. There was another family in the neighborhood that had mooved her the same time that we had and lived next door. The husband was a very large bald biker type dude. One day I had my son at the pool and he was throwing an absolute screaming fit. He was not going to learn to swim no matter what I did. The neighbor man looked at me and said "Go home, I will have him swimming in less than an hour." I left and an hour later my son came home riding on this mans shoulders with a huge smile on his face telling me that he could swim. To this day I am not sure how he did it, I never asked. I think he just threw him in and said swim!

My dad told me this is how he learned how to swim. His older cousin threw him in the lake and told him to swim to the dock or drown. My grandmother had to be restrained from beating up the cousin when she found out.

 

[sleuthin4fun]

Like I said I am not sure exactly what happened but, I am grateful he learned to swim even if he did get thrown in repeatedly and told to swim for his life. I can not imagine living here and having a child that can't swim. My sister in law is 40 and had a near drowning experience at age 6 and has had a terrible time getting past it. We spend the summers on a lake in Indiana and when we are out in the water she wears a life jacket arm floats and holds a noodle.