Introduction/ Acknowledgements
Good afternoon. I’m delighted to be here with you today.
Diane, thank you for the warm introduction and for the important work that
you do in Lee County to promote pool safety.
For those of you who are not Floridians, welcome to the Sunshine state
and the 14 th Congressional District represented by my good friend Congressman
Connie Mack.
Maureen, thank you for your leadership of the National Drowning Prevention
Alliance.
I know that in the few years of NDPA’s existence, there has been
significant improvement in education and public awareness about drowning
prevention and safety. As individuals, organizations, government agencies,
policymakers and corporations we all share the common goal of saving lives. Through
NDPA, we can bring our ideas and “best practices” together to
make a difference.
Before I move on, I’d like to recognize Alan Korn, and the wonderful
and talented team at Safe Kids Worldwide for making Pool Safety a priority
issue this year.
I know that a number of the Florida Safe Kids coalitions are here with
us today. Thank you all for your tireless efforts on behalf of the Preston
de Ibern, Merriam Mackenzie Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act that we
finally passed into law in 2000.
Now, as a Member of Congress, I look forward to working with all of you
and others from around the country on federal pool safety and drowning prevention
legislation. I have been working on this legislation over the past several
months and I cannot think of a better forum to introduce this legislation.
But first, I’d like to share a story that has a tragic ending that
is probably all too familiar for many of you here today.
We all look forward to the joys of summer! Swimming pool owners look forward
to the season when they can enjoy relaxing around their pools with their
family and friends. In warm weather states like Florida , these activities
can be enjoyed year round. Unfortunately, in an instant, this oasis of beauty,
pleasure and relaxation can bring devastating consequences.
Two and a half years ago, on a hot June day, 7-year-old Virginia Graeme
Baker, granddaughter of former Secretary of State, James Baker went with
her mother, Nancy, and four sisters to a family friend’s home for a
graduation party.
Graeme, as she was affectionately known, had worn her swimsuit to the party
and jumped in the pool as soon as they arrived.
Shortly after, Graeme’s older sister ran up to Nancy [their mother]
and told her that Graeme was underwater in the hot tub and would not come
up. Nancy raced to the spa, but could not find Graeme in the hot tub’s
dark water and thick bubbles.
What she did next is what I know any mother would do. Nancy jumped into
the hot tub to save her child.
Sadly, she found her daughter lying unconscious on the bottom of the spa.
She threw her arms down into the water to pull Graeme up, but could not wrench
her from the bottom.
As she desperately yanked, two men jumped in and grabbed Graeme’s
ankles, they had to pull so hard to release Graeme that they broke the drain
cover.
Emergency units arrived immediately and performed CPR, but Graeme could
not be revived. She was flown to Fairfax Hospital in Virginia , but it was
too late. Graeme was pronounced dead.
It wasn’t until the police report came out, that Nancy discovered
what happened: Graeme’s hip or buttock had become suctioned to the
hot tub’s drain.
Graeme Baker, a child of one of the most prominent families in America
, was the victim of suction entrapment.
As with most pool and hot tub drownings, the fact that her death was entirely
preventable makes the loss that much more tragic and infuriating.
Despite the enormity of this tragedy, Nancy Baker overcame it! She committed
herself to ensuring that this never happens to another child and embarked
on a crusade to improve pool safety.
Nancy shared Graeme’s story across America and testified before the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on the need for improved safety measures
in pools and hot tubs.
Nancy is here with us today and I’d like to recognize her for her
great courage and tremendous resilience.
Nancy and her family have joined Safe Kids Worldwide in developing National
Safe Kids Week 2006. This annual public education and awareness campaign
focuses on specific safety topics for children up to 14-years old.
This year, the campaign’s focus is pool safety and with the help
of everyone in this room, I know the word will spread.
The Baker family tragedy is a painful example of the need for pool safety
legislation. We must implement national standards to replace the haphazard
safety measures that allowed Graeme, and hundreds of children like her, to
be lost in such nightmare scenarios.
The facts speak for themselves:
Drowning is the second leading cause of childhood deaths by injury in the
United States .
In 2002, 335 children, under the age of 14, drowned in swimming pools or
spas.
I can’t emphasize this enough:
335 children across the nation, under the age of 14, drowned in swimming
pools or spas in 2002.
That’s 335 lives that were cut very short because we didn’t
act quickly enough to address this problem.
The victims go beyond these 335 children – the victims include the
parents and families left to grieve in the traumatic aftermath of the preventable
loss of a child.
Here in Florida , pools are as common as palm trees, and drowning holds
the gruesome distinction as the leading cause of death among our youngest
children.
I mentioned earlier that during my time in the Florida Legislature, I introduced
and passed the Preston de Ibern/McKenzie Merriam Residential Swimming Pool
Safety Act of 2000.
The law was named for two beautiful children, Preston de Ibern, who was
five years old at the time of his near-drowning and McKenzie Merriam, who
was just eighteen months old when she drowned.
Like Nancy Baker, Carole de Ibern, Preston ’s Mom, who is with us
today, fought tirelessly for three years to help me pass this legislation.
She drove with Preston in their van from Pinellas County to Tallahassee for
every committee hearing and every time the bill was heard on the floor of
the House or Senate for three years.
She would tell Preston ’s story with Preston right by her side in
his wheelchair. He was a living example of the bi-level tragedy of child
drownings and near-drownings.
Preston finally succumbed to his catastrophic health care issues when he
was twelve years old. Carole, you honored his life and now honor his memory
through your tireless advocacy on drowning prevention. It has been an honor
to work with you through the years.
The law in Florida requires that all new residential swimming pools built
after October 1, 2000 be surrounded by one of four safety barriers: a pool
safety fence, or a pool safety cover, or a self-closing, self-latching mechanism
on the doors leading to the pool area or continuous-sounding door and window
alarms on the doors and windows leading to the pool area.
I am pleased to report that in 2004, the death from drowning for 0-5 years
was the lowest since 1998; 3.3 deaths per 100,000 in Florida . I believe
our pool safety legislation and the enhanced public knowledge of this problem
have driven down these numbers.
Now, we are taking the next step to prevent pool and spa tragedies, because
this problem does not stop at state lines. The same nightmarish stories and
tragic endings are just as common in states across the country from California
to Maine.
So why hasn’t something been done on a national level up to this
point?
There is a very straightforward solution to prevent these tragedies: Research
by the New England Journal of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control
indicate installation and proper use of a safety fence around residential
swimming pools and spas could prevent 50-90 percent of childhood pool drownings
and near-drownings.
It couldn’t be more clear that something can and must be done.
The bitter truth is that the pool and spa industry walks a fine line between
public responsibility and boosting sales. Needless to say, the swimming pool
industry does not see an upside for sales in highlighting the risk of suction
entrapment and drowning, but all of us know that there should be no greater
incentive than saving the life of a child.
Sadly, the National Spa and Pool Institute opposed the legislation in Florida
and even sued, unsuccessfully after it became law, to try to have it declared
unconstitutional.
NSPI has opposed every pool safety proposal across the country. Rather
than remain an obstacle, I call upon them today to join us in our effort
to reduce the number of children who needlessly drown in pools and spas.
They cannot continue to stuff their hands in their pockets and declare
that supervision is the only answer.
Since my election to Congress, developing national comprehensive pool and
spa safety legislation has been one of my top priorities.
I am proud to say that when Congress returns from recess for the second
session of the 109 th Congress, I will introduce the Graeme Baker Memorial
Pool and Spa Safety Act.
Safety issues are not just the primary responsibility of state and local
governments. This legislation would provide states with the funding and technical
assistance needed to enforce proven pool safety guidelines.
My legislation does not mandate that states adopt these safety measures.
It does, however, give them incentives to do so by providing federal grants
to states that require barriers such as fences, to be erected around swimming
pools; or by providing federal grants to states that require the installation
of anti-drain entrapment devices to protect against suction entrapment drowning.
My legislation specifically addresses and requires “layers
of protection – the best way to prevent drowning.
The first layer calls for the installation of physical barriers around
the pool to limit access. This barrier should be a fence, at least 4-feet
high, with self-closing and self-latching gates.
The second layer of protection calls for swimming pools to be equipped
with a suction outlet drain cover. These devices prevent hair and body entanglement.
The third layer requires installing a safety vacuum release system. This
device automatically shuts off a pump if a blockage is detected.
While most new pools come equipped with this system, there is no similar
protection for the roughly 4 million in-ground pools in the United States
with single-main drains and aging drain covers.
Finally, we all know that the most effective barrier is supervision, public
education and awareness. Thus, the legislation authorizes the Consumer Product
Safety Commission to conduct a public education program.
As pool safety advocates, we must carry the message that drowning is preventable
and that the most effective preventive measure anyone can take is active
supervision.
The truth is, while 94 percent of people report that they always actively
supervise their children while swimming, closer examination indicates that
parents often participate in a variety of distracting behaviors.
And, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in five parents
believes that a lifeguard is the main person responsible for supervising
children in the water.
Lifeguards are a key safety measure but it’s important to remember
that the lifeguard-to-swimmer ratio at public swimming areas may be as great
as 25 swimmers per lifeguard.
They also report that 55 percent of parents thought there were circumstances
in which it was O.K. for a child to swim without a buddy.
Within this category, 31 percent said it was O.K. to leave a child unsupervised
if he or she swam with a buddy.
29 percent thought it was O.K. if the child was an excellent swimmer.
23 percent thought it was O.K. if the child had several years of swimming
lessons
I could stand here all day and I still would not be able to adequately
emphasize that parents mustactively supervise their children whenever
they are in or near the water. But we all know that no matter how vigilant
we are, supervision does lapse and we must have layers of protection in place
when that happens.
This means that ultimately we as parents and concerned adults must take
every measure possible to prevent drowning tragedies.
And we must demand that the industry does its part as well.
Virginia Graeme Baker would be 11 years old today. Preston de Ibern would
be 15 years old.
In honor of their memories, and that of every other drowning victim, I
ask that each of you continue your efforts to ensure the safety of family
and friends and most importantly, our children. Together, we can reduce the
likelihood of drownings across the country.
We will never know how many lives we may save or how many near-drownings
we prevent, but we do know that we can prevent the heartbreak of countless
parents. . That alone is worth the effort.
Thank you. |
