Can a pool drain disembowel you?

Author: Brandt Schuster DVM  |  Last update: Sunday, July 3, 2022

Or, as was the case in this wading pool incident, an open drain can suction organs out of the body. In 1993, Valerie Lakey, 5, was playing in a wading pool at a recreation club in North Carolina when she became caught in the uncovered drain's vortex. The pull was so strong that she was disemboweled.

Can your guts get sucked out by a pool drain?

The family of a 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a Minnesota swimming pool drain last year says the child has died. A 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a swimming pool drain, leading to tougher safety legislation, has died, her family's attorney said Friday.

Can a swimming pool drain disembowel you?

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the pressure on some pool drains can be as strong as 300 pounds per square inch. 1 This kind of pressure can suck in hair or body parts, or trap swimmers underwater and cause them to drown, even if someone is trying to pull a victim away from the drain.

Can you get trapped in a pool drain?

Even if a parent is closely supervising a child in a pool, one adult alone cannot free a child trapped by a drain. Entrapment occurs when a body is held against the drain by the force of the pool's suction, or if a bathing suit, jewelry, hair or a limb gets caught in the drain.

How do people get stuck in pool drains?

Pool drain entrapment generally happens in one of five ways:
  • Mechanical entrapment. A piece of jewelry or clothing such as a bathing suit strap gets stuck in the drain.
  • Limb entrapment. A finger, toe, arm, or leg becomes lodged in the drain, and the person cannot move.
  • Body entrapment. ...
  • Hair entrapment. ...
  • Evisceration.

*GRAPHIC* *6 Year Old Girls Intestines Sucked Out By Pool Drain | The Horrific Death of Abbey Taylor

What is drain death?

Drain entrapment occurs when a drain's powerful suction traps a child's hair, bathing suit or body parts. Drain entrapment can cause serious and fatal injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, internal organ damage, drowning and brain damage.

What do you do if someone is stuck in the pool drain?

If someone becomes entrapped in a pool drain, the CPSC recommends immediately turning off the pump. Don't try to pull the person away—instead, insert fingers or a small object between the drain and the person's body to break the seal and then roll them off until they're free.

Are pool drains powerful?

The vacuum effect in pool drains is powerful enough to hold swimmers, especially children, to the bottom of a pool. Contact between human skin and a flat pool drain can create suction equal to hundreds of pounds of pressure.

Where is Salma Bashir now?

Presently, Salma is hospitalized for elevated enzymes in her pancreas. Determined to live, Salma set up a go-fund-me page, “Salma's Life Saving Transplant,” in 2018. To date, this brave teenager with an inspirational zest for life has raised $258,321 toward her $4,000,000 goal.

Is Salma Bashir still alive?

Six months later, the transplant was removed — in addition to her large intestines and gall bladder. Despite the doctors' bleak diagnosis, Salma survived and is now a talkative, upbeat, and kindhearted 17-year-old.

What happened to Valerie Lakey?

On June 24, 1993, David Lakey took his daughter, Valerie, to the Medfield Area Recreation Club in Cary, North Carolina. The Club's pools were open to members of the neighborhood and were regulated by Wake County. Valerie played in the children's wading pool, but then got pinned on top of an open drain she sat on.

What happened to Abigail Taylor?

Abigail Rose Taylor

In June 2007, six-year-old Abbey suffered a horrific injury. While playing in a public wading pool, Abbey unknowingly sat on a poorly maintained drain that was unequipped with the appropriate safety devices. The powerful suction eviscerated Abbey, ripping her small intestine from her body.

Can you get sucked to the bottom of a pool?

If you swim too close to them, your hair, jewelry, fingers, or any other body part can get sucked in. The average suction pressure of pool drains can be as high as 700 pounds, making it impossible to remove you once this happens. This is called suction entrapment, and it can be fatal.

How did Salma lose her intestines?

Salma Bashir, then five, was on holiday with her family in Alexandria, Egypt, when she accidentally sat on a pool's suction valve. The force was so strong that it ripped her small intestines from her body before anyone had a chance to pull her away.

How many inches is the large intestine?

Its job is to absorb most of the nutrients from what we eat and drink. Velvety tissue lines the small intestine, which is divided into the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The large intestine (colon or large bowel) is about 5 feet long and about 3 inches in diameter.

Did Salma get her transplant?

Given just weeks to live, Salma's family travelled to the US for life-saving surgery not available in Egypt. Instead, her transplant was rejected from her body and Salma now receives all her nutrients via a TPN tube.

What is a swimming pool suction valve?

Most swimming pools and spas use a suction-based drain to filter out things like dirt, body oil, and debris from the water. This system helps to keep your pool water clean, which makes it an important part of your pool's ecosystem.

Should a pool have a main drain?

Main drains are not required in an inground swimming pool, however, they are strongly recommended and can be extremely useful in some circumstances. The advantages of main drains are to give you the ability to drain the water from your pool without the use of a sump pump. This is useful when replacing your pool liner.

How does pool drain work?

A pool's so-called main drain is not actually a drain; that is, it is not used to drain the pool. Instead, it is an outlet, housing a pipe that runs to the pump, which sucks water through a skimmer, then through a filter, then through a heater (if you have one), and then back to the pool via multiple inlets.

What is a pool Twister?

Twister continually changes the direction of the hose – power steering your pool cleaner out of awkward corners to ensure a constantly random and thorough cleaning pattern. Invented and perfected by an engineer who was frustrated with his suction pool cleaner.

Where do inground pools drain to?

During normal operation, water flows to the filtering system through two or more main drains at the bottom of the pool and multiple skimmer drains around the top of the pool. The main drains are usually located on the lowest point in the pool, so the entire pool surface slants toward them.

How can I make my home pool safe?

10 tips to keep your swimming pool safe this summer
  1. Build a pool fence. ...
  2. Install an alarm system. ...
  3. Ditch the diving board. ...
  4. Have rescue equipment and a first aid kit nearby. ...
  5. Inspect the pool area daily for slip hazards. ...
  6. Store chemicals safely. ...
  7. Inspect drain covers. ...
  8. Learn CPR.

What is a single blockable main drain in pool?

3. Single Drain - Not Unblockable - means there is a single drain which can be sufficiently blocked by a human body to create a suction hazard. This type of drain must be protected by an approved safety vacuum release system or other equally or more effective system.

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