FIGURE 2
Location of Swimming Pools in the City of Houston That Received F Grades
Conclusion The strength of our study is that our methodology could be used by other jurisdictions that have not adopted MAHC criteria yet . If used across jurisdictions , our approach can ensure consistency in swimming pool safety grading . Future directions include evaluating if safety issues with swimming pools persist in subsequent years , investigating prevailing socioeconomic and health disparities in areas with a high concentration of pools that fail safety inspections , and developing an online platform that is available to the public that could host a map of swimming pools by safety grade . Overall , the MAHC can be applied to grade swimming pool safety in jurisdictions where it has not yet been adopted . The degree of safety violations can be spatially demonstrated ( e . g ., mapped ) to inform injury-prevention measures .
Note . Shaded area indicates the City of Houston .
aquatic bodies and permitting agencies . For example , we did not study pool violations in single-family homes , as they are not subject to annual safety inspections . Second , we included only 1 year of data . It would , however , be preferable to include additional years of data to assess safety trends . Third , some swimming pools that failed safety inspection might have corrected their deficiencies after the routine inspection . Thus , we were unable to determine if the safety deficiency was long-standing . It is highly likely , however , that the safety concerns were addressed in a timely manner because the property managers would want to open the aquatic facility to their clients at the earliest possible point . Finally , we cannot comment on aboveground or portable swimming pools , as they are not subject to safety inspections .
Acknowledgements : We gratefully acknowledge Kenneth Malveaux and Naomi Macias of the Commercial / Residential Pool Program within the Houston Health Department for providing us with pool inspection data and their insight on swimming pool inspections . We also acknowledge Ryan Ramphul for his help with geographical mapping of the swimming pools .
Corresponding Author : Rohit P . Shenoi , Division of Emergency Medicine , Department of Pediatrics , Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children ’ s Hospital , 6621 Fannin Street , Suite A2210 , Houston , TX 77030 . Email : rshenoi @ bcm . edu .
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