A 4-year-old boy drowned and died at Great America amusement park in Santa Clara. The boy's mother blames the park for negligence saying that there were not enough lifeguards on duty in the Great Barrier Reef wave pool.The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA) and the Santa Clara police have initiated investigations. Great America is doing an internal investigation as well.
State Sen. Elaine Alquist, (D-Santa Clara), said Monday she would introduce legislation to increase the safety at wave pools by requiring that young swimmers must wear life vests and cannot be left unattended. Her bill also would set a mandatory ratio of lifeguards to swimmers.
Since the drowning, Great America began requiring all youngsters shorter than 48-inches-tall and inexperienced swimmers to wear life jackets when going into either the wave pool or tubing. Parents should also err on the side of caution by staying with their children when they wade into a pool that tries to simulate a touch of the thrill -- and the power -- of an ocean wave.
Lack of pool safety is not limited to California. Public and private pools and parks in Pennsylvania have been the scene of many unsafe pool accidents. If your child or someone you know as suffered because of lack of pool safety, please contact the Pennsylvania law firm Anapol Schwartz for a free consultation to find out what your legal options are.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/17/EDG6QQ501O1.DTL
