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Swimming Pool Accident Attorney

Work with an Experienced Drowning Lawyer

Swimming pool accidents can be devastating. One moment, everything seems fine, the next moment, an individual could be suffering serious injuries or even become a victim of drowning. Whether they take place at a homeowner's association pool, apartment pool, or a private residence, pool accidents can leave families and friends wondering what went wrong.

The Doan Law Firm, P.C. has an extensive history of representing pool accident victims and their family members across the United States. Attorney Jimmy Doan is a skilled drowning attorney with more than 15 years of experience in the aquatic safety business. The legal team at the firm handles each case with the utmost respect and care, while fighting aggressively for fair compensation.

You can best protect your important legal interests by promptly contacting a swimming pool accident lawyer at The Doan Law Firm at (800) 349-0000. Our firm can schedule an initial consultation with one of our lawyers at your convenience at one of our 40 local offices across the country, or online. There is never a charge for an initial consultation and case evaluation. Indeed, our firm makes an attorney fee guarantee – we will never charge an attorney fee in your case unless we win for you.

We Handle All Types of Swimming Pool Accident Cases

The Doan Law Firm, PLLC provides nationwide representation for the victims and families of swimming pool drownings and other injuries. When a drowning accident is caused by negligence or neglect on the part of a property owner, Attorney Doan and his firm can work tirelessly to help you file a lawsuit or claim to seek damages for all sustained injuries and losses.

Apartment Pool Accidents

Apartment complexes often have a pool as one of the amenities residents and their guests can enjoy. As such, residents have reason to expect that the apartment management will not only keep the pool maintained, but that certain safety precautions will be taken to keep the residents who use it safe from harm. Any failure to do so could lead to innocent lives being lost. If you or someone you love has drowned or had a near-drowning experience in an apartment pool, you need to seek counsel from a swimming pool accident lawyer at once.

There are many actions apartment building owners, management companies, and their staff are required to take to safeguard a property so as to protect its residents, including:

A permanently-posted sign listing the "pool rules"
Warning notices alerting guests that no lifeguard is on duty
Security gate to keep unauthorized guests and non-residents from gaining entry

When their responsibilities are neglected, injury can result. A defective pool fence can allow easy access to a child who would otherwise be prevented from going in the pool area without adult supervision.

Country Club Pool Accidents

Country clubs offer a wide variety of activities and amenities that members and their guests can take advantage of, particularly on warm summer days. People often opt to join and use country club facilities over those run by the city or local community, as there is a certain expectation that the club will keep their property well-maintained and look out for the safety of their members.

A country club owner or manager needs be held liable for any accidents and injuries that result if he or she:

Acts negligently with pool maintenance
Attempts to cut corners with improper lifeguard training
Fails to fix something that is knowingly broken

It is this type of carelessness and backward thinking that puts others' lives at risk. Pool accidents are not minor accidents. In many cases, a pool accident can lead to permanent brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen, paralysis from spinal injuries, and other permanent disabilities.

Public & City Pool Accidents

Federal legislation requires operators of public and city pools and spas to meet certain safety standards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has worked to enforce these standards, some of which include fencing around pools, supervision of children, and anti-entrapment pool drain covers. Recent changes to federal laws require drain covers to meet certain specifications, which are designed to limit the number of drowning deaths and accidents related to pool drains.

However, meeting these requirements is not as simple as checking items off of a list. A public pool may have met the child supervision requirement, but lifeguard negligence could still be a factor in a case if the lifeguard was inattentive or failed to respond to the accident within a reasonable amount of time. That is why is critical to have an experienced swimming pool accident lawyer help you gather evidence related your situation.

School Pool Drowning Accident

Children, especially those who play sports, may spend more time in a school pool than any other type of swimming pool. While these facilities provide enjoyment and allow children to compete in water sports and races, they also place individuals at risk if left in disrepair with inadequate or untrained supervision. A school pool drowning accident can leave families devastated and unsure of where to turn.

School pool operators must meet certain federal safety standards, which are designed to reduce the number of injuries and drowning deaths in public swimming pools. These regulations include supervision of children and the use of anti-entrapment drain covers. Finding negligence on the part of the school or pool operator does not mean proving any intent to harm. Rather, it simply involves evidence that reveals the responsible party failed to take reasonable care when ensuring the safety of swimmers. So, if a lifeguard failed to pay attention to swimmers, or if there was a faulty or inadequate drain cover, a family could, with the help a skilled drowning attorney, hold the right individuals responsible.

Types of Pool Accident Injuries

Often, pool accidents are not the result of egregious error on the part of a parent or family member. In fact, many pool accident victims are under some sort of supervision at the time of the incident. Whether injuries are sustained as a result of a defective pool gate or a pool drain cover accident, the lives of all involved can change drastically in a matter of moments.

Non-fatal Pool Injuries

Ranging from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can be sustained when an individual hits his or her head, to disembowelment, which can occur if an individual sits on top of a pool drain, non-fatal pool accident injuries can have lasting effects for victims and their families. Medical expenses for these individuals can skyrocket, and may remain elevated for the remainder of their lives.

Fatal Pool Injuries

Fatal pool injuries are catastrophic for friends and family members. Many happen when parents or caretakers take their eyes off a child for just a moment. It takes just a moment for small children to wander toward and fall into nearby swimming pools. Other fatalities occur as a result of lifeguard negligence or pool operator negligence.

Common Causes of Swimming Pool Accidents

In the United States, approximately 10 percent of swimming pool accidents involve diving. These accidents can result in severe and even debilitating injuries and in some cases death. While many pool accidents do happen in residential swimming pools, they also occur with alarming regularity at public locations as well as at resort and hotel swimming pools.

Alcohol and Swimming Pool Accidents

As is the case with many accidents, alcohol is a frequent contributing factor when it comes to aquatic accidents. In fact, according to the CDC, alcohol is involved in:

"up to 70% of deaths associated with water recreation, like boating or swimming"
"nearly 1 in 4 emergency department visits for drowning"

Diving Into Inadequate Water Depths

The American Red Cross recommends a minimum of nine feet of water depth for safer head first dives into swimming pools. This includes dives from a lower-level diving board as well as from the pool deck itself. If a pool has what commonly is referred to as a high dive, there needs to be water of a greater depth in order for a head first plunge into the water to be safer. Over 57 percent of swimming pool diving accidents occur in a water depth of four feet or less.

In regard to inadequate water depths, it is never safe to dive into an above-ground swimming pool, according to the American Red Cross. “No diving” signs should be placed conspicuously around all swimming pools that do not meet minimum water depth requirements. The same signage should be placed at appropriate locations at pools where there is a deeper end with a water depth that allows for diving.

Diving Tricks

Keep in mind that only experienced, properly trained swimmers should ever dive head first into a swimming pool. Unfortunately, every year people are seriously and even fatally injured in diving-related swimming pool accidents because they attempt some sort of diving “trick” for which they are not trained or qualified to undertake. According to the American Institutes for Research, about 17 percent of all diving accidents occur when a person attempts an unusual dive or trick.

Improperly Maintained Diving Boards

Another of the most commonplace underlying causes of swimming pool accidents is improperly maintained diving boards. The fact is that diving boards are far more complicated pieces of equipment than most people appreciate. The types of negligent maintenance issues are extensive. They include everything from improper maintenance of a diving board’s surface to inadequate upkeep of the hardware and mechanical components of a swimming pool diving board.

Improperly Maintained Pool Deck Areas

Improperly maintained pool deck areas are another of the more common underlying causes of a swimming pool accident. These include swimming pool decks that are not properly maintained, decks that are damaged, and deck areas that are improperly designed or installed in the first instance.

Inadequate Staff Training

Inadequate staff training is another negligent factor that plays into injuries and even deaths that arise from swimming pool accidents. For example, if a public swimming facility, waterpark, resort, or hotel maintains a lifeguard or other type of personal safety staff, they need to be trained appropriately to deal with all reasonably anticipated types of aquatic accidents. This includes being able to respond appropriately to a pool accident.

Improper Securing of Swimming Pool

Swimming pool accidents occur with some regularity as a result of a swimming pool and surrounding area not being appropriately secured. In other words, individuals – usually children or teens – access an inadequately secured swimming pool “after hours.”

Contact a drowning lawyer today to get the help you need.

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When is a Pool Owner Responsible for a Swimming Pool Accident?

Pursuing a personal injury or wrongful death case represent complicated legal matters. This can particularly be true when a personal injury or wrongful death claim arises out of a swimming pool drowning accident. At the heart of such a claim for justice, accountability, and appropriate compensation for injuries, damages, and losses is demonstrating when a pool owner (and perhaps others) is responsible for a drowning accident.

There are four elements that need to be demonstrated in order to successfully pursue a claim for negligence arising out of a swimming pool drowning accident. In order to hold a particular party responsible for a swimming pool drowning accident, each of these elements must be satisfied.

We take a moment to address each of these elements in turn:

Duty of Care

In order to pursue a negligent swimming pool drowning accident personal injury or wrongful death claim, a duty of care must exist. What this means is that the victim of a drowning accident must demonstrate that the person alleged to caused the accident had a legal duty to keep a swimming pool and its perimeter in a reasonably safe condition. For example, if a person drowns in a hotel swimming pool, the owner of the property (and associated pool) has a legal obligation to keep the pool and its surroundings in a reasonably safe condition.

Breach of Duty of Care

The next element that must be satisfied in a swimming pool drowning accident claim is a breach of the established duty of care. For example, the owner through management of a hotel and its swimming pool needs to have appropriate rescue and lifesaving equipment on hand.

Breach of Duty Caused Accident

The third component of a personal injury or wrongful death claim arising out of a swimming pool drowning accident is the establishment of a connection between the breach of the legal duty owed to a person at a swimming people and accident and injuries sustained as a result of that incident. The breach of the duty of care must be the reasonably foreseeable cause of the accident and resulting injuries.

By way of example: a poorly or improperly trained lifeguard on a duty at a swimming pool who fails to respond properly to an emergency can reasonably be categorized as a foreseeable contributing (or even primary) cause of injury or death sustained in a drowning accident.

Actual Injuries Sustained

Finally, the successful pursuit of a swimming pool drowning accident claim necessitates a demonstration that the individual pursuing such a case suffered actual injuries. Of course, in many drowning accident cases, sustained injuries are apparent. Many drowning victims lose their lives in these types of accidents. Moreover, oftentimes in nonfatal drowning accidents, victims of these incidents suffer debilitating injuries (even permanent disabilities) as the result of such occurrences.

The bottom line regarding injuries when pursuing a claim following an alleged drowning accident is that such injuries cannot be purely speculative. A claim cannot be pursued based on a vague proposition that a person might face some type of injury at some unspecified point in time.

Documenting a Swimming Pool Accident

Gathering evidence directly following a swimming pool drowning accident is vital if the incident in question was caused by the fault or negligence of someone else. The aftermath of this type of incident is emotionally and otherwise challenging because odds are significant a person lost their life or was injured severely. Nonetheless, as an experienced swimming pool drowning accident lawyer will tell you, gathering as much evidence regarding the incident as soon as possible can result in a stronger claim for justice, accountability, and compensation.

Seek a Medical Examination

If the incident involved a nonfatal drowning, the individual who suffered this type of water emergency must seek medical attention. First of all, the drowning accident victim needs to be examined to make certain that he or she will not fall victim to secondary drowning. Secondary drowning occurs when an individual has taken on some water as a result of the accident but does not immediately exhibit any symptoms of injury. There are plenty of grim situations in which people who thought they were uninjured following an incident of this nature end up suffering secondary drowning and end up losing their lives. In addition, if a claim is to be pursued following a negligently caused drowning accident, an initial medical examination will be vital to that process.

Notify Authorities

Contact local law enforcement and emergency services right away to report any injuries or fatalities related to the drowning incident. The police will also likely conduct an investigation into what happened and obtain statements from witnesses in order to determine liability.

Interview Witnesses

If there were any witnesses present at the time of the incident it is important to interview them in order to get their account of what happened before, during, and after the incident itself. Witnesses should be asked detailed questions about events leading up to and after they noticed something was wrong with the victim, if possible. In this day and age, thanks to technology, statements from witnesses can be videoed on mobile devices.

Photograph or Video the Scene

Speaking of mobile devices, when gathering evidence following a swimming pool drowning accident, photograph or video the entirety of the scene. Ideally, obtain images or video the area from different vantage points.

Examine Circumstances Surrounding Incident

Any other relevant factors that may have contributed directly or indirectly towards an individual's accidental drowning should be examined as thoroughly as possible. This can include whether or not proper safety measures were followed prior, during, or after the drowning accident.

Preserve Any Physical Evidence

Take steps to preserve any evidence related to the incident such as clothing worn by the victim or debris found in or around the pool area that could provide clues as to what happened. If possible, store these items in a safe place until further investigation can be done by law enforcement agencies or other professionals.

Collect Insurance Paperwork and Related Documents

Collect insurance paperwork: Make sure you obtain copies of all relevant insurance documents such as homeowner's policies. Obtain lifeguard certification, if applicable, before leaving the scene.

Obtain Legal Assistance

Finally, in the aftermath of a swimming pool drowning accident in which you were injured or a loved one was injured or died, you are wise to make prompt contact with an experienced lawyer. You can connect with a dedicated swimming pool drowning accident lawyer at The Doan Law Firm any time by calling us at (800) 349-0000. We keep our swimming pool accident telephone line staffed 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, including all major holidays.

A Skilled Swimming Pool Accident Lawyer Can Fight for Victim's Rights

When a loved one is involved in a pool accident, a drowning attorney from the firm works closely alongside the family to help them through this emotional time. Attorney Jimmy Doan and his team of legal professionals review each case, gathering evidence to hold the right individuals responsible and recover the maximum monetary compensation possible. The firm is dedicated to helping pool accident victims and their families and is available 24/7 to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.