Pool suction-drain injury, also known as suction entrapment, occurs when the drain of a wading pool, swimming pool, hot tub, or fountain sucks in a swimmer's jewelry, torso, limbs, hair or buttocks. In some cases of buttocks entrapment, victims are disemboweled. In the United States, 147 incidents were documented between 1985 and 2002 of which 36 were fatal.[1] In 1982, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that five children were disemboweled by drains in wading pools and urged pools to install covers on drains.[2][3]
A standard 8 inches (20 cm) main drain can develop up to 350 pounds (160 kg) of force, which could hold a person underwater in tight grip until the suction is released. This can drown the entrapped person, despite the rescue efforts of multiple adults.[4]
One way to make drains safer is to install shut-off valves and dome-shape drains that are less likely to create a suction effect with the human body, as required in the United States by the 2007 Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.[5]
Notable cases
editUnited States
edit| Name | Date | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| Carol Parker | 1957 | A 13-year-old in Prattville, Alabama was sucked feet-first to her hips into a drain of a municipal pool and remained stuck under nine feet of water despite two lifeguards' efforts. She was able to escape the drain when a pool bystander turned off the pump.[6] |
| Valerie Lakey | 1993 | In Cary, North Carolina, 5-year-old Valerie Lakey was disemboweled by a kiddie pool when her bottom became stuck to the drain. Neither turning off the pump nor the strength of four adults dislodged her. The drain cover manufacturer, Sta-Rite, claimed the cover was improperly installed. Lakey survived without most of her small and large intestine and received a $30.9 million settlement from Sta-Rite ($25 million), Wake County, Medfield Area Recreation Club, and others ($5.9 million combined). It was the largest personal injury verdict in North Carolina history and a landmark case of lawyer John Edwards, later a Senator and vice presidential nominee.[7] |
| Virginia Graeme Baker | June 2002 | The seven-year-old granddaughter of former US Secretary of State James Baker died of suction entrapment due to a faulty drain cover and died in her mother's arms at the bottom of a hot tub.[8] The United States Congress passed a pool safety act under her name in 2007.[5] |
| Abigail Taylor | 2007 | The six-year-old died in 2008 nine months after her injury despite subsequent surgeries. Scott and Katey Taylor, her parents, lobbied for the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which was passed the year of Abigail's injury.[9] |
| Salma Bashir | 2008 | During a holiday with her family, she was disemboweled while in the kids' swimming pool. As of the time of the report, she was fed by a TPN bag and was waiting for a multiple organ transplant.[10] After getting a small intestine transplant, her body rejected the organ and six months later it was removed, as was her large intestine and gall bladder. She died on January 1, 2024. [11] |
| Evan Pappas | 2018 | Survived an entrapment of 7 minutes 40 seconds in a lazy river in South Carolina in 2018.[12] |
References
edit- ^ Rowley, William N.; Egstrom, Glen H.; Witte, Donald H.; Rocha, Ester; Rocha, Francisco (2008). "Dual-Main-Drain Suction-Entrapment Test Report". International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education: 190–212 – via Bowling Green State University.
- ^ "Open drain holes in wading pools have accidentally disemboweled five children". The Daily Sentinel-Tribune. 1982-08-10. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ^ "Children Are Disemboweled by Pool Drains". Lancaster New Era. 1982-08-10. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ^ Dumas, Bob (October 2003). "Troubled Waters". Pool and Spa News. Los Angeles: Hanley Wood LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
- ^ a b "'She Died in My Arms': A Mother's Mission for Safe Pools". ABC News. July 23, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
- ^ "Alert Youth Rescues Girl from Pool Drain". Chattanooga Daily Times. 1957-06-27. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ^ "$30.9 MILLION FOR GIRL DISEMBOWELED IN POOL DRAIN MAKER: COVER WAS INSTALLED WRONG". Associated Press. January 15, 1997. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
- ^ "Parents of Kids Killed in Pool Drain Accidents Outraged By Federal Rethink of Safety Law". ABC News. March 30, 2010. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ^ "Girl dies 9 months after horrific pool injury". NBC News. March 21, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
- ^ Mikolay, Anne (June 8, 2020). "The Unbelievable Story of Salma Bashir". Atlantic Highlands Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ "Girl Whose Insides Were Sucked From Body While Sitting On Pool Suction Defies Medical Odds". Archived from the original on 6 May 2023.
- ^ Bever, Lindsey (2021-10-26). "How a child survived eight terrifying minutes trapped underwater". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on Jan 22, 2021.