ICYMI: the Houston Entrapment

I am here with the topic on everyone's mind this week.

Last Monday, March 25 there were multiple news reports about a missing 8 year-old girl found dead in a hotel swimming pool in Houston, Texas. Unsurprisingly, journalists and lay people unfamiliar with swimming pool operations did not use the word 'entrapment,' so it sounded like a simple, albeit tragic, fatal drowning.

I avoided commenting because there just weren't enough details available to satisfy someone who understands how swimming pools actually operate.

By Wednesday, March 27, I'd had enough inquiries asking what happened and articles referred to me that I was ready to sit down and record an Aquatic Industry Insider video. To do this I focused on publicly available photos of the facility (the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow) and the legal filing (lawsuit) by the family of the deceased child, Aliyah Lynette Jaico.

As photos have come out from Texas EquuSearch regarding the opening in which Aliyah died, the situation appears to be so much worse than any of us previously thought possible.

There are still a lot of questions about how this happened. New information will continue to emerge as authorities ranging from the Houston Health Department & Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigate what happened.

If - as it's now being alleged - a renovation or retrofit of the hotel's swimming pool occurred without prior approval, there will be a lot more information to unpack in terms of engineering, design, permits and workmanship.

For now, I want to keep the family of Aliyah Lynette Jaico in our thoughts & prayers. Her death was completely unnecessary, and this should be a watershed moment for proactive change in the swimming pool industry.

To learn more about entrapment, I would encourage you to watch this excellent introductory video that is suitable for your next staff inservice training or toolbox meeting.

For more information, please refer to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act (VGBA) as well as local guidance (state, county or provincial laws) regarding anti-entrapment requirements or contact us for more support. I also wrote an article in PoolPro magazine a few years ago about this topic.

Thanks for being here.

Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.