Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires municipalities that have public swimming pools to provide information regarding “dry drowning.”
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public swimming pools, and amending and supplementing P.L.1957, c.166.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) On or before the first day of the fourth month next following enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health shall design, produce, and distribute to each municipality in which a public pool is located, a poster warning of the dangers of dry drowning and listing all of the symptoms of dry drowning, and a one-page information pamphlet that provides the same information.
2. Section 1 of P.L.1957, c.166 (C.40:61-22.21) is amended to read as follows:
1. The governing body of any municipality may acquire, establish, construct, own or lease, control, equip, improve, maintain, operate and regulate one or more public swimming pools and such other recreational, playground, or public entertainment activities as it may determine to provide in connection therewith, and for any such purpose or purposes may construct, reconstruct, alter, provide, renew and maintain such buildings or other structures and equipment as it may determine, and provide for the care, custody and control thereof.
The governing body shall post in a prominent area at every public swimming pool the poster produced and distributed by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) warning of the dangers of dry drowning and listing all of the symptoms of dry drowning. The governing body shall also require that a copy of the one-page information sheet produced by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be provided to municipal residents annually, either at the time they register as members of the municipal pool, or at the public swimming pool during the first two weeks that the pool is open.
(cf: P.L.1971, c.334, s.2)
3. This act shall take
effect immediately, but the posting and distribution requirements in section 2
shall remain inoperative until the first day of the fourth month next following
enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health to design, produce, and distribute to each municipality in which a public pool is located, a poster warning of the dangers of dry drowning and listing all of the symptoms of dry drowning, and a one-page information pamphlet providing that information. The bill would also require the governing body of every municipality that operates a public swimming pool to post that poster in a prominent area at the pool, and to also require that a copy of the one-page information sheet be provided to municipal residents annually, either at the time they register as members of the municipal pool, or at the public swimming pool during the first two weeks that the pool is open.
“Dry drowning” occurs when a person inhales water into the person’s lungs but isn't affected until after the person has left the water. It is also referred to as secondary drowning. Patients can then have breathing difficulties due to airway muscle spasms. The laryngospasm reflex essentially causes asphyxiation and neurogenic pulmonary edema.