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Florida Pool Pro
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• August 2014
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
John Garner, Sr.
FSPA President
Safety first
Our industry is again at the forefront of news due
to recent childhood drownings and other tragic events
related to swimming pools. Florida leads the country
in drowning deaths in children ages 1-4. What a
terrible statistic. In our industry, pool safety comes
first. When the first stake is driven in the ground to
begin construction until the pool is full of water, there
are safety measures we all should be taking.
Water safety – what does it really mean? In the
time it takes to throw in a load of laundry a tragic accident can occur. There
should be layers of protection from supervision to barriers to emergency
preparedness. With the recent generosity of Ken Brown, Insurance by Ken
Brown, five chapters throughout the state received grants to provide CPR
classes to their members and families. Providing CPR right away is the best
chance of saving a life. If you were unable to attend a chapter funded CCPR
class, I would strongly encourage you to contact your local Red Cross or
YMCA and inquire about their classes to learn this life saving technique.
Water safety doesn’t stop with parental responsibility, the baby fences or
even pool alarms. Most pool owners maintain their pools by testing the water,
cleaning the pool frequently or hiring a pool cleaning service to do this for
them. Pool maintenance shouldn’t stop here. Just like filling your car with
gas, having the oil changed on a regular basis and the tires rotated, there are
more complicated and somewhat more expensive scheduled maintenance
items that need to be performed by an authorized dealer.
Pools are no different than your cars. Many of the necessary inspections
go way beyond the experience of the person testing, treating and cleaning
a pool. Some of this work may go beyond the expertise of a licensed pool
contractor.
We as licensed pool contractors need to work with our electrical contractors
to encourage the pool owner to have a yearly electrical inspection on their pool
