Residents called for allocating swimming pools for children in residential buildings and entertainment areas, pointing out that their children are forced to swim in beaches and public swimming pools designated for those older than them, which puts them at risk.
The municipalities and the competent local authorities have set safety standards for constructing swimming pools in parks, buildings, sports, social and health clubs, to ensure full protection for their users.
In detail, citizens and residents Khaled Attia, Mustafa Mandour, Muhammad Al-Marzouqi and Nahed Al-Sayed reported that their residential buildings lack swimming pools for children.
They added that the lack of swimming pools for children prompted them to swim in public pools whose lengths are not suitable for them, which poses a threat to their lives in light of the lack of sufficient means to protect them.
They confirmed the failure of the owners of residential buildings to conduct periodic maintenance of the swimming pools. Which exposes its users, especially children, to health risks.
They pointed out that families go to recreational places during the summer, and some of them rent a villa or farm to spend their vacation, which necessitates the establishment of pools for children attached to the pools designated for adults, to ensure their protection from the risks of drowning.
And they continued that they monitored the lack of division of lengths in swimming pools located in many recreational places, in addition to the presence of pools of divided lengths, but without indicative signs, stressing that these matters endanger the safety of children.
Dubai Municipality has set technical requirements for children’s pools, including that the depth should not exceed 50 centimeters. In the event that there is a children’s pool adjacent to the adult pool, a barrier of 1.2 meters high must be placed from the surface, to prevent children from moving from their pool to the adult pool, and the children’s pool should be near the shallow side of the adult pool.
The head of the health control department in Sharjah Municipality, Ruqaya Ibrahim, stated that the municipality has set nine health requirements for swimming pools in hotels, including the cleanliness of the basin or the pool and the absence of any traces of algae in it, and the provision of bathrooms and toilets before going down to the pool, and the presence of a room attached to the swimming pool equipped Water purification equipment, the provision of means and tools for rescue in the pool, attention to its maintenance, the presence of a technician and rescuer familiar with first aid, a device or tool to measure the percentage of chlorine and acidity, with a special record to record the daily reading time and ratios, maintenance of walls, ceramics and floors, and the cleanliness of the tools and towels used.
The Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority confirmed that it had set a number of guidelines for improving the level of safety in swimming pools, in sports, cultural, social and health centers and clubs, to ensure that the pool water is clean, and to provide purification devices, and boards or signs showing the depth of the pool.
The head of the Emirates Society for Child Protection, Counselor Faisal Al-Shammari, said that there are seasonal accidents that recur, especially in the summer and winter seasons. Including accidents drowning in the sea or swimming pools.
He added, “Our main problem is lack of awareness, as we return to repeating the same mistakes and repeating accident scenarios instead of developing radical solutions to them.”
He continued, “It is wrong to have a home swimming pool without fencing it, the presence of an adult accompanying the children, and placing permanent or temporary sensors to alert any movement in the swimming pools,” explaining that “the first responsibility lies with the guardian.”
Al-Shammari called on families to supervise their children, “neglect is a crime, because the human element is considered to be the cause of the accident.”
A member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Child Protection Association and Director of the Awareness and Studies Department at the Community Development Authority in Dubai, Widad Salem Al-Mahmoud, said, “Protection of the child in swimming pools requires focusing on swimming pools in homes and villas for families, as the child plays freely at home and the family may neglect to follow him, and from Then the focus appears on the importance of having a person accompany the children according to the age group inside the house.
She added, “Swimming pools must have clear standards, as there are companies concerned with putting a rubber membrane to protect children in the pools, and parents must adhere to the standards of protection in homes, especially since some families make a big mistake by not preparing their children by teaching them to swim.”
She pointed out that even if the children are good at swimming, a “life jacket” must be provided to protect them from drowning, with the need for a guardian to be at his side to follow him. As for clubs, schools, etc., the presence of one guide on a group of children is an irregular act and does not meet the protection of the child, but there must be people distributed on each quarter of the corners of the swimming pool.
She explained that some swimming pools push the child to love taking risks, and therefore there must be swimming pools compatible with children’s heights, so that they are attached to public swimming pools.
And she stressed that as long as there are public benefit associations concerned with child protection, they must be given the authority to make periodic and unannounced visits to entertainment establishments to follow up on safety procedures for children, in a way that helps reduce the number of victims of drowning accidents.
Lawyer Moza Masoud said that one of the negative aspects of swimming is the accidents that result from it, the most important of which is drowning, and therefore parents must follow the instructions. In the pools of the house or private farms, we must choose the appropriate time for swimming, and make sure that the water in the pool is clean so that it does not cause us allergic diseases or infections, and we must make sure that we know enough about swimming, and make sure that we wear clothes that do not hinder our movement or cause us to drown.
Swimming periods should not exceed two hours at a time, so as not to cause other complications, and the body should be moisturized after rinsing it of chlorine, which is usually found in pools. Also, a valuable recommendation is to protect children’s hearing with a special ear spray while swimming.
With regard to swimming in the pools of clubs, hotels and resorts; You must make sure to choose the appropriate basin for children because there are always basins designated for them.
Faisal al-Shammari:
“Our main problem is lack of awareness, as we go back to repeating accident scenarios instead of developing radical solutions to them.”
Wedad Al-Mahmoud:
“Some families make a big mistake by not preparing their children by teaching them to swim.”
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