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Editorial: Grievous injury leads to safety measure

Senate bill would protect kids from pool-drain dangers.

Last update: December 17, 2007 - 5:50 PM

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A FATHER'S PLEA

"A part of the reason we've embraced some of the media attention is because we feel a responsibility to make sure we do whatever we can to make sure it doesn't happen to any other children.''

Scott Taylor, Abigail's father

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It was called a freak accident at the time, but the type of wading-pool tragedy that left Abigail Taylor of Edina severely injured last summer was not an isolated occurrence.

Abigail, 6, sat on an uncovered drain in a country club's wading pool, and its suction tore out most of her small intestine. She survived, but she's likely to require a feeding tube the rest of her life. In another accident last summer, Zachary Archer Cohn of Connecticut, also 6, drowned when his arm got stuck in an intake valve in his family's pool.

Legislation aimed at protecting children from pool drains passed the U.S. Senate last week, in part because of the efforts of U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Norm Coleman, R-Minn. The House passed its version of the legislation in October, and Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., was a co-sponsor.

The Senate bill was named for Virginia Graeme Baker, who died in 2002 after being pulled underwater by a hot-tub drain. Virginia, 7, was the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker.

The bill would require public pools to use anti-entrapment drain covers, and it prohibits the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet safety standards. The bill also would create an incentive grant program for states to adopt more comprehensive pool safety laws.

This fall Klobuchar added language to the Senate bill that would require pools to use technology that automatically shuts off suction when a drain is blocked.

It's clear that the legislation is needed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued safety warnings on pool drains for years, but the agency had only voluntary guidelines in place. Apparently some manufacturers and those responsible for pool safety didn't take the guidelines seriously.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, a Washington advocacy group, 36 people have died and 111 have been seriously injured in pool-drain accidents since 1985.

Industry groups have supported the House and Senate legislation, and we trust drain manufacturers, spa makers and pool operators will finally do what's necessary to make pools and spas safe for kids.

Scott Taylor, Abigail's father, has said he hoped his daughter's accident would increase awareness of the dangers posed by pool drains. Although the Taylor family has paid much too high a price, they've probably prevented hundreds of deaths and injuries. In that, we hope, is some comfort.

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