Tragically, thousands of children and adults drown in swimming pool accidents in the U.S. every year. Those who survive swimming pool accidents often suffer from brain damage and other severe injuries, including spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and even disembowlment.

Many swimming pool accidents occur because of improperly maintained drains. When a part of a person is caught in an improperly covered drain, the pressure from the drain can be so strong that the person is unable to pull away. When this occurs, the person can become trapped underwater by the pressure of the drain. This is especially true if the person is a child. Cases involving drains have been responsible for drownings and even disembowling.

Many other swimming pool injurues occur as a result of diving accidents. These accidents usually result from poorly designed or constructed swimming pools in which the diving board is located in an area of the pool that is too shallow for safe diving. Injuries often occur to the head and neck leading to drownings, brain injuries and quadriplegia.

Other accidents occur when swimming pools are not properly supervised, such as can occur when there are not sufficient, properly trained lifeguards on duty at public beaches. Without training, people are often unable to recognize the signs that someone is struggling for air prior to drowning. For example, most people do not recognize that drowning victims rarely scream for help because all their energy and focus before going underwater is on trying to take air in and keep afloat.

Lastly, contamination of swimming pools by E. Coli and other bacteria can cause serious injuries and even death. Swimming pool water can become contaminated by watery diarrhea, urination, and other germs that get washed off of swimmers' bottoms. Chlorine kills most germs, but some germs can survive normal pool levels of chlorine for several hours and even days. Unless proper chlorine levels are maintained, the level of contamination can rise and result in injuries to swimmers.

Examples of common reasons why swimming pool accident occur include:

1. improperly designed or constructed pool;
2. failure to secure pools from small children;
3. failure to maintain the pool in safe condition;
4. lack of lifeguards;
5. lack of safety equipment;
6. inadequate warnings;
7. absent or unreadable markings; and
8. lack of safety covers.

Liable Parties Can Include:

1. recreational equipment manufacturers;
2. swimming pool and component manufacturers;
3. swimming pool retailers, distributors and installers;
4. property owners;
5. hotels and apartment owners;
6. municipalities;
7. schools;
8. supervisory personnel;
9. resort owners;
10. private club employees;
11. youth or infant caretakers; and
12. medical mismanagement.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of a swimming pool injury, you should immediately contact a competent attorney.