Children and water often make for a deadly mixture. A new report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission documents pool and spa drowning incidents involving kids five-years-old and younger from 2006 to 2008. Highlights:

• 3,100 The average number of children treated in hospital emergency rooms for pool and spa-related submersion injuries each year
• 62 The percentage of children treated in ERs with submersion industries who were 2 or younger
• 64 The estimated percentage of treated submersion industries that occurred at a private residence
• 279 The average number of children who drown in pools each year
• 17 The average number of children who drown in spas each year
• 83 The number of reported suction/entrapment incidents reported in pools and spas from 1999 to 2008
• 11 The number of suction/entrapment incidents in which the victim died.

In December, a new federal law called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (named after the seven-year-old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State, James Baker, who tragically drowned in a hot tub in 2002) took effect requiring public pools and spas to install anti-entrapment drain covers and, in some cases, anti-entrapment systems.

Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission, “Pool and Spa Submersion: Estimated Injuries and Reported Fatalities, 2009 Report,” May 21, 2009,  http://www.cpsc.gov/library/poolsub2009.pdf

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