WA: Four-year-old partially disembowelled in pool accident

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2009
WA: Four-year-old partially disembowelled in pool accident

By Aleisha Preedy

PERTH, Dec 16 AAP - A four-year-old West Australian boy is recovering after being partially
disembowelled when he sat on a swimming pool skimmer box.

The boy was in the pool at his home in Gosnells, in Perth's southeast, when the accident
happened on December 5, the WA Department of Consumer Protection division says.

He sat on the skimmer box, a filtering device on the edge of the pool which removes
leaves and dirt from the water, and the suction of the pool's filter pump damaged a portion
of his small and large intestine.

He spent a week receiving treatment at Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital and is now
recovering at home, but will require the use of a colostomy bag for several months while
his injuries heal.

The consumer protection department issued a warning about the danger of pool equipment
on Wednesday, following an inquiry into the incident.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll warned owners of older-style swimming
pools, installed prior to 1988, to check skimmer boxes cannot be accessed by children.

"In older-style pools these skimmer boxes look like a seat or potty that a child can
easily sit in unless there is a physical barrier or the lid is permanently secured down,"

Ms Driscoll said.

"If children sit in a skimmer box it can cause horrific injuries and even death.

"It's important that skimmer boxes have a safety skirt or lid installed which is a
vertical barrier preventing children from sitting on the box and that the lid is securely
fixed and can only be removed with tools and not by hand."

AAP ap/ah/srp

KEYWORD: POOL

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.