safety of residential pools for children
Hello,
I have to bring this up - swimming pools are a great asset in homes and residential compounds - however they can also be killers. Within the last few months I have heard of two children who have died in pools in compounds - all within minutes of being missed - having escaped through windows or doors forgotten open. We all know that no matter how careful you are, children will elude you and escape your scrutiny often.
As an architect I know that providing a high fence is mandatory - but there is always a gate and sometimes that is left open of the kids just manage to open them somehow. The best way would be to have 24hour surveillance - but is this practical? Perhaps having set pool hours - and closing the pool access when there is no one to guard would be a good idea. If anyone wanted a midnight dip - then they would have to take the keys and return them - and only adults should do that.
I wonder if there are any electronic means of pool activity surveillance - of putting a camera in every home just to show the pool area - too extreme??!!
ah yes we tend to forget sometimes..good night Alexa..xxx
Playing in the tennis courts space makes sense, thats why they locked it Alexa....lol...
goodnight CQM...
well...started counting sheep already:--))) as its past my bedtime and as i have to rise early for work tomorow.
good night all of you. catch you later.
do it right - the first time!
sure its hard to restrict kids. the choices we have are either in playgrounds/locked villa gates or the roadside under adult supervision( not recommended for the faint hearted).;---)))
the first time!
CQM..I think what deedee is trying to say, its a bit hard to restrict kids from playing outside with other kids, as they would go nuts indoors, however, if the kids insist on playing outside, at least close parental supervision would help if some idiot driver decided to race through the compund streets...still i prefer to take my kids to the parks at the corniche, away from cars...
alexa nadt in all honesty alexa i couldnt do what you did. apart from glaring at the speeding drivers,of course.By the way statistics show the risk of serious injury increases dramatically when the speed of the car exceeds 40 kph. Nevertheless, better safe than sorry.
nadt someone needs to have a chat with this deedee.lol
it right - the first time!
coolquietman..I couldnt agree wtih you more, children need constant supervision and need to stay away from playing areas where theirs cars.
alexa i have been bugging the manager of my compond for a while now to install speed bumps near my lane.
i love QP compounds for this reason as they have set a speed limit of 25kmph and impose fines for excess.my kids are still small and still unable to grasp the essense of road safety.
thank god summer is coming and they will play indoors for a good period.
lol..i admire your tenacity in stopping speeding cars.
do it right - the first time!
deedee i have 2 children and i stay in a huge compound with over 240 villas where the roads are wide and cars move at 100 kph inside the compond.everytime they play on the roadside my heart stops when a car approaches.
next time you feel its ridiculous ill be happy to arrange for you to visit us at HMC when we get a child hit by a speeding car.see it and then try to echo your sentiments.
IGNORANCE IS THE MOTHER OF BLISS.
do it right - the first time!
do you mean playing in front of stand alond villas? If so I agree, Or are you suggesting that in compounds as well children should not play in front of the villas? That's ridiculous. Do you have children?
the sight of a drowned child is a terrible one.
my anaesthetic colleague who had to resuscitate such a child once says she will never forget it as long as she lives.
this incident happened in a compound i know and now i believe the pool is permanantly closed.i cant agree enough with most of the suggestions above,too.
another thing that scares me is children playing in front of villas on the roadside. all it takes is for a ball to go to the road .kids should play only either in playgrounds or inside villas with locked gates.
do it right - the first time!
Iindeed omeima, it is a pity.
But it's hardly suprising when you consider that we live in a city with a large family park that's always full of children which has a busy, 6-lane, 80kmh road running right next to it and no fencing or barrier between the park and the road. Shocking.
Due to the high number of infant/child accidents in pools, a number of systems have been developed. These range from nets/covers, cameras to motion detection. If you are interested in more info, drop me a line and I will forward you all relevant info.
Exactly my point tallg - providing a pool fence is a regulation - however just not enforced in residential project - either the municipality overlooks it OR the client just chooses not to execute the drawings ...
All in all - it is a pity that people could be so short sighted.....
I hope this debate will lead to positive action and I would certainly like to hear about it...
"As an architect I know that providing a high fence is mandatory"
I don't think this is true, or if it is it isn't followed or enforced.
Thank you Alexa for that post.
I cannot emphasise the importance of safety measures at swimming pools in compounds and the tragedy of the lost young lives in these pools.
i think the only answer is parents keeping a watch.
But Alexa , what do you suggest for grownups who try to swim in the deep side and who pretend to know swimming when they dont' ?
A guest who came to our compound lost his life thus a couple of years back. His body was discovered 20 minutes later in the pool.
Aunt Polly
I would suggest pool timings the easiest and most practical way to handle this. Anyone who needs a swim after pool timings need to get the the key from the security and should remember to lock the gate behind him/her.
The solution is simple...put a number lock on the gate.....anybody who opens
the gate shuts it with the number lock.
Or put a night latch that locks automatically when the gate closes. The gate has to be inward slanting instead of being perpendicular so the gate swings
close. Of course the person going in would be carrying the key to exit from the
gate.
few yrs back ... my friend's daughter fall into empty pool . She was about 7 yrs old at that time. She cracked her skull and have to be hospitalize for quite sometimes. The swimming pool had no barrier in an empty villa inside a compound.
For me personally, i will never stay in a villa with private pool if i have young children. Just not worth the risk.
I agree with you completely. One of my neighbours lost her 3 year old daughter in a friend's pool about 3 months back. None of us could bear it.
I think parents have to be alert to this and always watch their children , rather than leave them in the care of maids , who often are distracted.
Thank you , omeima , for bringing this up.
Aunt Polly