Drowning in swimming pools

Although fatal drowning rarely occurs in swimming pools, this event has a very grave impact on the swimming pool employees, notably when they have been directly involved in the rescue and resuscitation. At the same time, very little data is available on the incidence, causes and outcome of pool drowning. It is important that pool lifeguards understand that a cardiac arrest after drowning is different from the primary cardiac arrest due to an infarction or ventricular fibrillation and that oxygen is the most vital aspect of the resuscitation measures. The use of a pool safety plan and the implementation of a checklist, training in realistic pool-related resuscitation scenarios and record keeping of accidents and near-accidents may be helpful to be better prepared for a drowning incident. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.