Under the federal law, all public pools and spas must have a variety of anti-entrapment systems installed.
But not every pool or hot tub is public and not every pool is compliant with the law, which was named after a young girl who drowned after she was trapped under water by the suction from a hot-tub drain.
Here’s what you need to know, courtesy of poolsafely.gov, a project of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
- A drain entrapment occurs when a body is held against a pool or spa drain by the force of the pool’s suction or when clothing, jewelry, hair or a limb becomes caught in a faulty drain.
- The greatest risk of entrapment is found in children’s public wading pools, other pools designed specifically for young children and in-ground spas that have flat drain grates and single main drain systems.
- The best way to prevent these hazards is to recognize them ahead of time and to use caution when in a pool or spa. Talk to your kids about staying away from drains.
- Entrapment hazards include: the body (a body part, often the torso or bottom, covers a drain and is held down by the intensity of the suction); hair (long hair is caught in a faulty drain cover); limbs (arms, legs, feet or fingers are lodged in a suction opening); mechanical (jewelry, bathing suits or other materials are entangled in a drain cover); evisceration/disembowelment (when suction draws out the intestines and organs).
Each year there are many victims of circulation entrapments in the U.S., including fatalities, according to the CPSC.
