Avoiding Chaos
UPDATED SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5 12:15PM.
Meow Meow Foundation aims to improve water safety and camp safety for millions of children nationwide.
One of the most important factors in achieving this mission is advocating for the deployment of Emergency Action Plans (EAP) at public pools, backyard pools, camps and other recreational facilities.
For instance, Roxie Forbes drowned at Summerkids, a recreational child care facility in Altadena. This foundation references Summerkids not simply because it is the site of Roxie’s preventable death, but because it serves as a prime example of what can happen when facilities fail to provide proper training, planning and oversight.
The first responding deputy said that she arrived to see dozens of children still at the Summerkids pool where Roxie lay dead. In fact she called the scene “chaotic.” Besides the fact that those employees possessed bogus lifeguard certifications and administered faulty CPR, the children should have been immediately removed from the scene once Roxie was found floating dead atop the pool.
In stark contrast to the deputy’s observations and statements, Summerkids Assistant Director Jaimi Harrison said, “The counselors were there, they were doing what we trained them to do. I’m incredibly proud of how they handled themselves.”
Harrison did not mention that the most senior counselor at the pool, who was considered management, left the scene. A counselor who was supposed to watch the shallow end where Roxie died and was supposed to have removed the children from the pool was also not at the scene when deputies arrived. Other counselors also left with apparently no plan for how to manage the children.
According to statements from some camper parents, their children were traumatized.
Summerkids did present an EAP after the drowning. But employees at the pool when Roxie died were unaware of any Summerkids EAP. The document reads, “In the event of any emergency, employees must keep calm. You are responsible for the campers. Your mature response is the most important element in any safety plan. Remember, the campers look to you to model behavior for them.”
Again, the deputy first responder said the scene was chaotic, children remained at the pool to witness the trauma, employees were crying and the owner-director, Cara DiMassa, said she stayed in her office for reasons that remain unclear. DiMassa and her parents, who are co-owners, soon thereafter left the facility. Harrison was the only full-time employee left to manage, but she too went to the office while the counselors kept the camp open. According to one of the employees, DiMassa’s 16-year-old daughter was left to answer phones.
DiMassa did not have any EAP content related to her swimming pool. And even though her EAP says that she and her mother are “the Summerkids spokespersons in the event of any emergency,” Harrison called Roxie’s parents. DiMassa did not attach her name to any particular media or other correspondence after the drowning.
Harrison subsequently quit Summerkids and left for Texas.
An EAP is designed so that public and private facilities afford appropriate responses to any number of considerably challenging circumstances. It also serves as a roadmap for an organization’s safety protocols and a means for accountability. However, EAPs are only effective if they are comprehensive and actively practiced by all employees.
Most recently, a camp counselor fatally drowned at a YMCA camp only minutes from Summerkids. Again, MMF believes that the camp failed to exact an appropriate EAP. The YMCA did not call the victim’s parents or disclose any important details, opting instead to buttress itself with attorneys.
While OSHA has a helpful tool for understanding EAP development, private households should strongly consider developing their own emergency action plans to prepare for earthquakes, fires, aquatics emergencies and other potential challenges.