The Virginia Graeme Baker Safety Act

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act promotes the safe use of pools, spas and hot tubs by imposing mandatory federal requirements for suction entrapment avoidance. The Act states that by midnight, December 19, 2008:

Safety Vacuum Release Systems (SVRS) such as the IntelliFlo VS+SVRS pump are designed to prevent body suction entrapment. They do not prevent mechanical entrapment, hair entanglement, limb entrapment, or evisceration (disembowelment). Below are the five entrapment hazards as explained by ANSI/APSP-7, Suction Entrapment Avoidance Standard.

• Body suction entrapment – Suction applied to a large portion of the body or limbs resulting in an entrapment.
• Limb entrapment – A limb sucked or inserted into an opening of a circulation outlet with a broken or missing cover in the pool resulting in a mechanical bind or swelling.
• Hair entrapment or entanglement – Hair becomes knotted or snagged in an outlet cover.
• Evisceration/disembowelment – Suction applied directly to the intestines through an unprotected sump or suction outlet with a missing or broken cover.
• Mechanical entrapment – Potential for jewelry, swimsuit, hair decorations, finger, toe or knuckle to be caught in an opening of an outlet or cover.

What is the difference between body entrapment and limb entrapment? Limb entrapment such as a hand/arm or foot/leg is trapped in an opening of a circulation outlet with a broken or missing cover. Body entrapment is the stomach, back, shoulder and arm, blocking the drain opening.

The reason for the distinction is an arm stuck in a pipe is not solved by turning off the pump or "releasing the vacuum."

Swimming Pool Safety Article Body What is the best way to keep my child safe around swimming pools? An adult should actively watch children at all times while they are in a pool. For infants and toddlers, an adult should be in the water and within arm’s reach, providing “touch supervision.”  For older children, an adult should be paying constant attention and free from distractions, like talking on the phone, socializing, tending household chores, or drinking alcohol. The supervising adult must know how to swim.

Pool Rules If you have a pool, insist that the following rules are followed:
    .    Keep toys away from the pool when the pool is not in use.
    .    Empty blow-up pools after each use.

• No tricycles or other riding toys at poolside.
• No electrical appliances near the pool.
• No diving in a pool that is not deep enough.
• No running on the pool deck.

Pool Fences  Children can climb out a window, though a doggy door, or sneak out a door to get to the back yard and the pool. To prevent small children from entering the pool area on their own, there should be a fence that completely surrounds the pool or spa. Combined with the watchful eyes of an adult, a fence is the best way to protect your child and other children who may visit or live nearby.  

Pool fences should also:
    .    Be climb-resistant and should not have anything alongside it (such as lawn furniture) that can be used to climb it.
    .    Be at least 4 feet high and have no footholds or handholds that could help a child climb it.

• Have no more than 4 inches between vertical slats. Chain-link fences are very easy to climb and are not recommended as pool fences. If they must be used, the diamond shape should not be bigger than 1¾ inches.
• Have a gate that is well maintained and is self-closing and self-latching. It should only open away from the pool. The latches should be higher than a child can reach – 54 inches from the bottom of the gate.
• For above-ground pools always keep children away from steps or ladders. When the pool is not in use, lock or remove the ladders to prevent access by children.
  

Other protection products, when used with an “isolation” fence, may be of some benefit; however, these are not substitutes for adequate fencing. These may include the following:

• Automatic pool covers (motorized covers operated by a switch). Pool covers should cover the entire pool so that a child can't slip under them. Make sure there is no standing water on top of the pool cover. Be aware that floating solar covers are not safety covers.
• Door alarms
• Doors to the house that are self-closing/self-latching
• Window guards
• Pool alarms

Swimming Lessons Children need to learn to swim. The AAP supports swimming lessons for most children 4 years and older. Because of recent research, the AAP no longer advises against swimming lessons for children 1 to 4 years of age. Keep in mind that because children develop at different rates, each child will be ready to swim at his own rate. Other factors parents may consider before starting swimming lessons for younger children include frequency of exposure to water, emotional maturity, physical limitations, and health concerns related to swimming pools (i.e.,swallowing water, infections, pool chemicals).

Diving Serious spinal cord injuries, permanent brain damage, and death can occur to swimmers who dive into shallow water or spring upward on the diving board and hit it on the way down.

Keep safe by following these simple common-sense diving rules.

• Check how deep the water is. Enter the water feet first, especially when going in for the first time.
• Never dive into above-ground pools; they are usually not deep enough.
• Never dive into the shallow end of a pool.
• Never dive through inner tubes or other pool toys.
• Learn how to dive properly by taking classes.