Splash Palace rules tighten
Additional lifeguard training and parental supervision rules have been implemented at Invercargill’s public swimming pool following the near drowning of a 4-year-old girl.
An off-duty firefighter was at Splash Palace in October when he noticed the girl lying face-down near the bottom of the leisure pool.
He retrieved the girl and got her to the side of the pool, and when there was no pulse, he assisted a lifeguard to administer CPR, resuscitating the child. She returned to normal activities the following day.
An onlooker said the “terrifying” incident took place at a “free pool party” with lots of adults and children in the leisure pool.
The Invercargill City Council said there were 13 lifeguards on duty at Splash Palace that afternoon, with three lifeguards patrolling and supervising the leisure pool.
At the time, the council’s aquatic services manager, Stephen Cook, praised the firefighter’s efforts and said the lifeguard team carried out the duties they were trained for.
This week, Cook confirmed changes had been implemented at Splash Palace since the near drowning.
“Following a review of the October incident, Splash Palace has a new requirement for large event bookings to provide additional parental or adult supervision.”
Children under 7 were still required to be supervised by an adult in the pool within arm’s reach at all times. Before the October incident, there was no requirement for parental supervision at pool events for children aged 7 or over.
“We now require a 1:10 ratio for adults to children for large group bookings, in addition to direct supervision of under-7-yearolds,” Cook said this week.
Also, in-house training for the lifeguards was now taking place more frequently.
All Splash Palace lifeguards were required to have a certain level of competence and qualifications, including a pool lifeguard practising certificate and first aid certificate. They also had regular training that was continually renewed and refreshed, Cook said.
“Since the incident in October, they have undergone a refresher training programme from Drowning Prevention Auckland, and we have increased lifeguard in-house training from quarterly to monthly.”
Cook said guidance as to lifeguard staffing levels was taken from Poolsafe, an independent quality management scheme to which Splash Palace was accredited.