If you travel with your children, you may find yourself picking a hotel based on whether or not it has an indoor pool. Children love this perk, and it can make any overnight stay feel like a resort visit for them.
However, as a parent, you need to be aware of the potential danger that it poses. Many pools in hotels do not have lifeguards or any other type of security systems, save for an auto-locking door. Are your children at risk?
Remember, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 238 children who are four years old or younger pass away in drowning accidents every year. These happen in spas and pools. At the same time, submersion injuries lead to about 2,700 trips to the emergency room for this same age group, even when children do not pass away on the scene.
It happens very quickly. In most cases it has been less than five minutes since the parents saw the child last. It could be as simple as thinking someone else is watching them for a second or stepping out of the room.
While many of these incidents do occur at home, in backyard pools, you do have to consider the risk at a hotel. If you’re picking it based on the fact that it has a pool, are you choosing a hazard that could put your kids in danger?
If your child does suffer injuries in the hotel pool, especially if some type of negligence leads to the incident — such as a broken lock on the door — you must know what legal options you have.