Hi Martin,

Sorry, I cannot help with specific examples, but unfortunately pool drownings occur every summer, even where Life Guards are on duty.

Breath holding can often be preceded by hyperventilation in an attempt to “blow off” excess CO2, this coupled with breath holding can lead the individual to “pass out” and potentially drown. “Back in the day” (it may still occur) kids would hyperventilate and then have a “friend” tightly hold them around the chest, this would cause the individual to temporarily “pass out” mimicking a short high.

While some have pointed out this may be a legal/liability issue/attempt to exonerate the pool owners/operators from civil and/or criminal prosecution, the sign posting in no way alleviates their obligation to both prevent drownings and perform rescues. The Life Guards still have a duty to perform. Whether one considers this a “nanny” approach or a legitimate approach to reduce drownings is up to debate, but apparently this pool’s owners/operators felt it was necessary.

It is not clear to me, if this sign was only at the slide’s exit point into the water or everywhere around the pool. If it was just around the slide’s exit point into the water, it might be there to prevent someone from remaining underwater at this location where the next user could end up landing on top of the submerged individual.

Keep in mind that many pools utilize Life Guards that are 15-16 year old kids and while trained and certified, they may have never faced a life-threatening situation. Most, I am sure perform admirably and have saved many a life, but I suspect the pool’s owners/operators felt adding this restriction would provide an extra margin of safety.

Pete