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Constant supervision is an important step to ensure safety around pools and spas.
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Pool and spa safety drain covers are an important safety step and are required by law.
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The Poseidon system gives the lifeguard underwater “eyes.” It’s made up of overhead and/or 
underwater cameras, a central computer, an LED display panel and a waterproof touch-screen. The cameras’ analog video feeds are converted to a digital signal by a device called a frame grabber – made by Montreal-based Matrox Imaging – so they can be analyzed by Poseidon’s software.
Developed in France and first sold in 2000 by MG International-Poséidon, Poseidon is an anti-drowning detection system that analyzes video streams in real time and alerts lifeguards to people in trouble in the pool.
The Canadian Red Cross says recreational swimming is the second-leading activity that leads to drowning in Canada. Most drowning victims are young males and those who swim alone.
Drowning can be silent and quick. A swimmer in trouble can enter what lifeguards call a “drowning spiral” within seconds. Once caught in that spiral, the victim becomes immobile, cannot call out and loses consciousness in as little as 12 seconds.
When lifeguards are able to intervene and begin resuscitation within 30 seconds, the victim stands a good chance of recovery. As the amount of time involved in a rescue goes up, the chances of a successful resuscitation fall.
The software algorithms analyze a floating object’s volume and texture to determine if it is a person or just an object in the pool. Once an individual is identified, Poseidon searches for unusual behaviour by comparing the swimmer’s position over consecutive images. When the software detects a motionless presence at the bottom of the pool for 10 seconds, an alarm and siren are activated.
The monitors immediately show the location of the victim, allowing the lifeguards to bring him or her out of the water quickly and start resuscitation.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/22/f-pool-safety-technology-drowning.html#ixzz0uRwh83qP
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Waterborne illnesses are far from eradicated, and they’re more than just a case of diarrhea. Americans shell out an estimated $500 million in health care costs to treat the conditions each year, 
according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Legionnaires’ disease: $101 million to $321 million. Characterized by fever, nausea and diarrhea, and achy flulike symptoms, Legionnaires’ disease afflicts around 25,000 Americans each year.
Diagnosis and treatment can quickly add up. Blood tests, chest X-rays and liver-function tests might be required, and antibiotics are the usual solution. But Legionnaire’s can quickly turn fatal: Among patients who develop it in a hospital, death rates are around 50 percent.
Prevention? Treating water systems is the reliable standby, but the disease can also fester in large air conditioning systems.
Cryptosporidiosis: $37 million to $145 million. Also known as “crypto,” this parasite is found in recreational waterways and drinking water across the country, and is spread through the feces of infected people and animals.
Diarrhea is the characteristic symptom, and though crypto usually clears up on its own, those with compromised immune systems risk hospitalization.
Prevention? This one’s up to you. Don’t swallow pool water, wash your hands thoroughly — and if you’ve recently had crypto, do us all a favor and stay out of the hot tub for at least two weeks.
Giardiasis: $16 million to $63 million. You might know it as “beaver fever,” and you’ve probably been afflicted. The CDC estimates that 2 million Americans suffer giardiasis each year.
The illness, characterized by two weeks of cramps and diarrhea, is usually caused by raw sewage that’s leaked into drinking water. It can be transmitted person to person, leading to communitywide outbreaks.
 Around 80 percent of cases are treated with a course of antibiotics, but resistance to common medications is making beaver fever tougher to tackle.
Prevention? If you’re enjoying the great outdoors, don’t rely on untreated surface water.
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07.07.10 (LAS CRUCES) — Many area lifeguards are on alert as more and more children spend their summer by the pool. KRWG’s Carlos Correa reports.
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“…in 2008, FEMA decided that the practice is hazardous, apparently because glass walls could become projectiles in a hurricane. If FEMA doesn’t allow hotels to have indoor pools, Patricia 
Grand’s president says it would be devastating to the hotel’s winter business. “
All the people who come during the weekends in the wintertime would not come back anymore if they don’t have anywhere to go and have a swimming pool available to them,” said Frans Mustert, Oceana Resorts.
Hotel operators and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce have managed to hold FEMA off for two years while trying to get the agency to change its mind.
Dean said they’ve tried to point out that hotels in other beach cities have similar pool enclosures and they haven’t been targeted by FEMA. That argument didn’t change the agency’s mind. “Everyone we’ve talked to, in Washington and here at home agrees, this makes no sense, we need to get this law changed,” Dean said.
Congress is working on a rewrite of the Flood Insurance Program, to include a change in the pool enclosure law.
For more:Â Â http://www.carolinalive.com/neighborhood/story.aspx?id=479236
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“Probably the most important thing, especially when you’re dealing with young children, is that they are always supervised around a body of water,†said Heather Board, an unintentional injury 
prevention program director at the Virginia Department of Health. “Children can drown in an instant, and contrary to popular belief, it tends to be a very silent drowning. There’s not a lot of splashing.â€
In addition to close supervision, all pools should have a phone readily accessible in case there is a need to call emergency services. Barrier methods such as a fence with a self-closing gate also are important.
Adults supervising children in a pool should be free of distractions, Board said. The health department recommends one adult be designated the “water watcher†to keep a close eye on the children in the pool.
“There’s a difference between supervision and actively supervising,†Board said. A “water watcher†should not have side conversations with other adults, talk on the phone or leave the immediate area, she said. “They’re really paying close attention.â€
For more:Â Â http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2010/jun/09/water-safety-paramount-good-times-pool/
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“…In a Negligence Per Se case, once the plaintiff demonstrates the defendant failed to comply with an applicable statute, it creates a presumption that the duty was breached.”
“…compliance with…statutory requirements alone may not be sufficient to ward off a lawsuit in the event of a swimming pool-related injury because the Swimming Pool Industry Standards recommend safety precautions that go above and beyond the statutory requirements of the building and/or health codes…”
 For example, depending on the size and configuration of the pool(s), the building and/or health codes of most jurisdictions typically require that, at a minimum, the water depth be indicated by signs that are mounted in the pool deck at specified intervals and on the vertical wall in the tile line. Additionally, if there is no lifeguard on duty, then most jurisdictions require a sign advising swimmers of that fact.
For more:Â Â http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3072/is_15_224/ai_n48840673/
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“…although chlorine kills many potential pathogens, it can also react with human wastes such as perspiration, urine, skin particles, and lotion in pool water to form chloramines and 
trihalomethanes. Chloramines may remain in the pool water or volatilize into the air, where they create the pungent smell and acutely irritating properties of air above swimming pools..”
“…an outbreak associated with a swimming pool and attributed to chloramine exposure led to cough or ocular symptoms in > 70% of pool patrons interviewed.  Chloramine levels in pool water depend on chlorine and nitrogen concentrations, pool pH, temperature, and water circulation patterns.
However, chloramine levels in the air above swimming pools are also influenced by ventilation and the pool water chemistry. Indoor pools are likely to be less well ventilated than outdoor pools, so the risks associated with chloramine exposure are likely to differ between indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
For more:Â Â http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1289/ehp.9555
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The Best Western Inn in Socorro shut down its pool and spa after the state Health Department and the Environment Department said two people who stayed in the hotel contracted Legionnaire’s disease.
The state Health Department lab confirmed last month that water collected from the hotel contained Legionella , the bacteria that causes the Legionnaire’s Disease, spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer told The Independent.
“We did have a couple of people from South Carolina diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease and the likely exposure was the hotel,†Busemeyer said.
Asked to confirm that a third guest, from California, had also fallen ill, Busemeyer said: “I believe so, but I don’t have details on that.â€
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 This Independent Pool and Spa Service Association (IPSSA) video outlines safety issues at commercial pools and spas.
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