Photo: 123RF
A coroner has found that a 20-month-old child who died in her grandparents unfenced temporary pool was a "tragedy waiting to happen", sparking calls for these types of pools to be banned.
Aromaia Duff was at her grandmother's home in Napier with her parents in March 2023, and was left unsupervised inside the house for no longer than 15 minutes.
When her mother returned from the bathroom, she found her daughter floating and unresponsive in a temporary pool that'd been set up in the back yard.
In her report, Coroner Heidi Wrigley said unfenced temporary pools could be extremely dangerous for young children who couldn't swim, because of the high risk of quickly and silently drowning in them if not constantly and closely supervised.
"In the absence of fencing, the proximity of the temporary pool to the concrete slab and the availability of multiple lightweight items that could be used to climb up the side of the pool meant that Aromaia's drowning was a tragedy waiting to happen in the event of a lapse in close supervision of her when she was able to get outside," she said.
The pool was second-hand and left by people no longer living at the address, it had a plastic membrane and was 12 feet in diameter and 76 centimetres high with no fence around it.
The death resulted in Water Safety NZ calling for a ban on these pools.
"It's a blunt approach, we know that. But if we don't take action, we are putting the lives of young children at risk," said Acting Chief Executive Gavin Walker.
The Coroner's investigation found the child was able to get outside while her mother was in the bathroom, through an open sliding door in the lounge.
"I find it was possible for this to occur without her father noticing while he was occupied with his cell phone in the hammock," she said.
The Coroner said the death was preventable, and the greatest contributor to her death was the unfenced pool.
She also said measures should have been taken to ensure Aromaia couldn't get outside while unsupervised and the responsibility of her should have been handed over when the mother went to the bathroom.
"Such unfenced pools should never be in operation when young children are around due to the challenge of the constant and close supervision which is necessary to manage the risk of them drowning," said Wrigley.
In her report, Coroner Wrigley referred to a similar case of a 19-month-old boy who also drowned in an unfenced pool. The coroner for that case, Michael Robb, recommended that temporary pools under 1.2 metres high should not be sold in New Zealand.
Water Safety NZ
Aromaia's death is one of two children under two years of age who drowned in a temporary pool within 14 months of each other.
Water Safety New Zealand called on all New Zealanders to actively change behaviour around temporary pools in their property, or, at best - don't use them at all.
"No words can ease their loss. But sharing the findings of this case may help prevent future tragedies," said Gavin Walker.
The organisation believed there were thousands of these temporary unfenced pools in New Zealand, and wanted to see a ban on the sale and use of them.
"It does not matter whether a pool is permanent or temporary, the risk of drowning is the same. But expectations for people to comply with fencing regulations for cheap, portable pools may be quite simply out of touch with reality," he said.
Napier City Council told the Coroner the pool didn't comply with the building code because it wasn't fenced, however they didn't take any enforcement action because the pool was not on the council's 'pool register'.
Coroner Wrigley recommendations
- There must be constant visual observation and direct physical contact of very young children when around temporary unfenced pools
- Designating an adult to have responsibility for constant supervision
- Responsibility for a child needs to be expressly with one adult and if the arrangement needs to be changed, then should be expressly handed over to another adult.
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