Navigating Your Claim: Steps to Take After a Swimming Pool Accident

Navigating Your Claim: Steps to Take After a Swimming Pool Accident

Swimming pools offer a refreshing escape, but a fun day can quickly turn tragic. According to the CDC, around 3,500 people die each year in unintentional drowning accidents in the United States – about 10 each day. If you or a loved one has been involved in a swimming pool accident, understanding the steps to take is crucial to protect your health and legal rights. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of navigating your claim after a swimming pool accident.

Immediate Actions

  1. Ensure Safety First: The immediate priority is to ensure the safety of the victim and others around. Quickly and safely remove everyone from the water, but avoid moving those with suspected spinal injuries unless absolutely necessary.
  2. Seek Immediate Medical Care: Even if the victim seems fine, call 911. Silent symptoms, especially after near-drowning, can lead to brain injury or death. Prompt medical care is critical for anyone who has been involved in a swimming pool accident. Getting to a hospital right away reduces the risk of severe, potentially life-threatening complications. Medical professionals may identify underlying injuries that require treatment.
  3. Report the Incident: Notify the pool operator, property owner, or supervising lifeguard. File an incident report and request a copy. For public pools, filing an official report with the facility is essential. This creates an official record of the incident. If the accident happened at a private residence, inform the homeowner.
  4. Document the Scene: After ensuring there is no immediate danger, document the accident scene with photos, video, and notes. Take clear pictures of the area, including signage, water clarity, defects, or obstructions. Record environmental conditions and pool design issues. You should concentrate on the location where the injury occurred. Look for puddles of water, loose wires or cords, missing fence, and swimming toys and flotation devices. Document as much as possible. Your attorney can review the photos at a later time and determine if you’ve caught any proof of negligence on tape.
  5. Collect Witness Information: Get contact details from anyone who saw the accident. Eyewitnesses can be critical for proving negligence.
  6. Preserve Evidence: Keep any swim gear, photos, or physical evidence. The liable party may have evidence that proves they knew about the hazard that caused your injuries and their failure to warn you about them. This could include receipts for pool equipment, pool maintenance records, and video camera footage.
  7. Avoid Apologizing: After an accident, the best rule of thumb is to keep quiet. Don’t apologize if you think that you’re (at least partly) to blame for the accident. Homeowners, property owners, and insurance companies will try to use an apology – however innocent – to deny liability. Answer any basic questions you’re asked, but don’t expand and offer details. Direct any detailed or invasive questions to your attorney.

Understanding Liability

Liability in swimming pool accidents typically falls under premises liability law. This law requires property owners to ensure the safety of visitors and address hazards like broken equipment. Property owners have an obligation to take reasonable steps to keep their pool safe for all potential users. Those who fall into this group include homeowners with pools, hotel and apartment building owners who offer the pool as an amenity, health club owners who offer pool access, and government entities who oversee public or school swimming pools.

Potentially Liable Parties:

  • Property Owners: Generally, the go-to party when liability is in question, as it is ultimately up to them to keep their property safe. They are also responsible for ensuring that their pool meets all safety regulations. In many cases, even if it’s not the property owner’s fault, they are still ultimately liable.
  • Pool Maintenance Companies: If a pool maintenance company was negligent in their duties, they may be liable.
  • Contracted Lifeguards: If a contracted lifeguard was negligent, the company that employs them may be liable.
  • Contractors: For example, if a contractor installed a fence so poorly that a child could crawl under it and access the pool, they may be liable for any subsequent wrongful death claims.
  • Manufacturers: In cases where a swimming pool accident is caused by defective equipment or products, victims may pursue product liability claims against the manufacturers or distributors responsible for the defective items.

Common Causes of Swimming Pool Accidents:

  • Drowning and Near-Drowning: Tragically common in young children, especially when supervision lapses.
  • Slip and Fall Accidents: Wet pool decks, uneven tiles, and missing non-slip surfaces often cause falls.
  • Diving Board Injuries: Can result in head and spinal injuries, particularly when the pool water is too shallow.
  • Defective Pool Drains: Can cause suction entrapment injuries, especially in children.
  • Lifeguard or Owner Negligence: Includes failure to post warnings, enforce rules, or maintain safe conditions.
  • Improper maintenance: Unclean or chemically imbalanced water can cause health problems.
  • Lack of proper supervision: This is particularly relevant in cases involving children.
  • Inadequate fencing or barriers: Florida law requires certain safety features to prevent unauthorized access to pools.
  • Defective pool equipment: Faulty drains, broken ladders, or other equipment can lead to severe injuries.

Building Your Claim

  1. Gather Evidence: Collect as much evidence as possible. This includes:

    • Photos and videos of the accident scene and your injuries.
    • Medical records and bills.
    • Witness statements.
    • Incident reports.
    • Maintenance logs.
    • Local health inspection reports.
    • Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer: An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you navigate the claims process and pursue fair compensation for your injuries and damages. A swimming pool accident lawyer can handle insurance claims and assess liability quickly. Hiring an attorney early helps preserve evidence and protect your rights.

    • Determine the Value of Your Claim: Calculating damages in a swimming pool accident claim can be complex. Factors to consider include:

    • Medical Expenses: Includes current and future medical costs related to the injury.

    • Lost Wages: Compensation for lost income from the past and future if you were unable to go to work due to your injuries, recovery time, medical treatment, and more.
    • Pain and Suffering: Damages to cover PTSD, anxiety, fear, mental scarring, emotional anguish, and more.
    • Property Damage: Replacement or reimbursement of lost items, broken property, damaged goods and belongings, and more.
    • File a Claim: Your attorney will help you file a claim against the responsible party. This typically involves submitting a demand letter to the pool owner’s insurance company outlining the damages you seek.

Proving Negligence

To win a swimming pool accident claim, you must prove that the pool owner was negligent. This means demonstrating the following:

  • Duty of Care: The pool owner had a responsibility to maintain a safe pool and surrounding area.
  • Breach of Duty: The pool owner failed to protect you and others while the pool was in use.
  • Causation: The pool accident would not have happened but for the pool owner’s negligence.
  • Damages: You suffered injuries and losses as a result of the accident.

Statute of Limitations

Be aware of the statute of limitations in your state. This is the time limit you have to file a lawsuit. In many states, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims ranges from one to three years. Missing this deadline could mean losing your chance to recover any compensation. Claims involving municipal pools typically require a notice of intent within 120 days under the public-building exception, while claims against state-owned pools may allow up to six months to provide notice.

Types of Compensation

If your claim is successful, you may be entitled to compensation for:

  • Medical expenses (past and future)
  • Lost wages (past and future)
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Property damage
  • Punitive damages (in some cases)

Common Swimming Pool Injuries

  • Drowning and Near-Drowning: Oxygen deprivation (called hypoxia) from a near-drowning can cause brain damage ranging from mild to severe, with accompanying physical and mental disabilities, depending on the amount of time the brain is oxygen-starved.
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries:
  • Spinal Cord Injuries:
  • Broken Bones:
  • Slip and Fall Injuries: The risk of head injury when striking one’s head against a hard poolside surface is great.
  • Diving or Jumping Injuries: If a diving board is malfunctioning or improper for the size and depth of the pool, the diver can suffer death, paralysis, or another serious injury.
  • Pool Chemical Injuries: The most common pool chemical injuries diagnosed in the ER are poisoning from breathing in chemical vapors, gases, and fumes.
  • Entrapment Injuries: Swimmers, especially children, can become trapped by the powerful suction from a pool’s drain.

Conclusion

Navigating a claim after a swimming pool accident can be complex, but taking the right steps can protect your health and legal rights. By seeking immediate medical attention, documenting the scene, gathering evidence, and consulting with an experienced personal injury lawyer, you can increase your chances of a successful outcome. Remember to act quickly and be aware of the statute of limitations in your state.