Water Wings and Flotation Devices May Be Dangerous As They Have A Tendency To Lull Parents and Children Into a False Sense of Security
This past weekend I had a 3-year old child at my house and nervously watched from a distance as one of her arms slipped from a water wing while she floated in 6 feet of water. Thankfully, there was a supervising adult nearby.
As an experienced Pennsylvania swimming pool and water accident lawyer, I have reviewed and investigated many situations involving the failure of floatation devices which unwittingly lulled parents and children into a false sense of security.
As a young boy, I remember being pushed from a raft and falling over and sinking to the bottom of the pool to be rescued by my father who was standing nearby. Of course, I felt secure in the pool on the raft but after I sank and was brought to the surface choking water, I was traumatized for life and became particularly sensitive to these issues and at this date prosecute swimming pool and water injury death and drowning cases. Young children think of swimming pools as fun and do not associate floats or water wings with water safety. If one of these devices fails or falls off, drowning or catastrophic injury resulting from water submersion is a definite possibility. While I refer generically to child flotation devices or water wings, others refer to them as floaties, armbands, swimmies, or side wings, they all have similar construction in that they are inflatable plastic bands worn around the child’s upper arm to provide mild flotation for uncertain swimmers. Many times they are not worn snugly or not properly inflated or have leaks or holes or simply the child pulls them off. Whenever a child is in the pool with waterwings, it is ultimately more important to have proper safety equipment and parents or other adults supervising the child carefully when they are in or near the water. I recommend enrolling children in water safety or swimming classes as soon as possible and safety rules must always be enforced with no horseplay or other unsafe behaviors and certainly there should be no pets, such as dogs, in or near the swimming area which may play with the child and bite the water wings puncturing the same. Just like any other activity in life, chance favors the prepared mind. The safety of children in pools should never be compromised.
The Pennsylvania swimming pool accident and drowning accident lawyers of Reiff & Bily are committed to swimming pool safety. Since 1979, our Pennsylvania swimming pool and accident lawyers have represented generations of victims and their families who have drowned or suffered a water submersion injury. Recently Reiff & Bily joined forces with the legendary Beasley Firm to create the Beasley Reiff Law Group and together our attorneys have been awarded over $2 billion dollars since 1958. If you would like a free, no obligation consultation concerning a swimming pool accident, drowning, or water submersion accident, contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
