The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Medical pool drains Select a topic - - - - - - - - Home Searches AFU FAQ - - - - - - - - AFU Animals Books Celebrities Classic Collegiate Death Disney Drugs Food GIF Language Legal Medical Misc Movies Politics Products Religion Science Sex Songs TV - - - - - - - - Other sites

From: erh4@crux2.cit.cornell.edu (Eric R Hyatt)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: One more time: kid's intestines sucked by pool drain
Date: 23 Mar 1995 05:28:54 GMT

On 2 March a.d. 1995 Kevin Lund (kevin@cassandra.ucr.edu) posted: >Ok, so the topic of kids getting disemboweled by pool drains comes up one
>day (as it inevitably does). Sounds hokey to me, so I say it's probably
>an urban legend. No way, says my girlfriend. It happened. In fact, it
>happened close by to where she used to live! This is a True Fact, because
>she knows somebody who knows somebody who used to work at the pool where
>it happened, though she can't quite remember which pool it was.
>
>Tee hee. So the bet is made...I check the FAQ...
>
>F. Fat person on ship/airline toilet has intestines sucked out due to vacuum.
>T. A similar accident happened to a little girl who sat on a wading pool
> drain in North Carolina happened on 26 June 1993 [she didn't die].
>
[snippage]
>A quick search turns up: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report v41n19,
>p.333 Suction-Drain Injury in a Public Wading Pool - North Carolina, 1991.
>
>There goes option #2; MMWR is a government publication and the article looks
>pretty scholarly. The FAQ should be changed, according to the article, to

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >16 June 1991, big whoop.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The 15 March 1995 FAQ still quotes the 1993 date. I thought I'd check Mr. Lund's claim. Quoting from the journal in question [reminder--BOA doesn't apply to quoted material]:

     CDC
     Centers for Disease Control
     MMWR
     Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
     May 15, [a.d.] 1992
     Vol. 41, No. 19, p. 333

     _Epidemiologic Notes and Reports_

     Suction-Drain Injury in a Public Wading Pool - North Carolina, 1991

          On June 16, 1991, a 3-year-old girl playing in a public wading
     pool sat on the pool's uncapped suction drain.  The child appeared to
     be stuck on the drain, and the pool attendant quickly truned off the
     pool's suction pump.  As a consequence of sitting on the drain, the
     child sustained severe internal injuries requiring surgical repair.
     This report summarizes the investigation of this incident by the
     North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural
     Resources (DEHNR) and describes safety measures to prevent injuries
     among children caused by pool suction drains.

          Following the episode at the wading pool, the child was examined
     at a hospital and had perianal bruising and prolapse of the rectal
     mucosa.  The prolapse was manually reduced, and a pelvic computerized
     tomography scan showed no evidence of a rectal leak; however, by June
     17, she had evidence of localized peritonitis.  An exploratory
     laparotomy revealed a long anterior laceration of the seromuscular
     layer of the rectosigmoid colon; the mucosal tube was intact but
     ischemic and was separated circumferentially from the outer layers of
     the bowel wall.  The laceration was repaired and a sigmoid colostomy
     performed.

          The investigation by the DEHNR revealed that the wading pool
     where this injury occurred had a three-quarter-horsepower suction
     pump that was not linked to the adjacent adult pool or any other
     outlet.  At the time of the injury, the antivortex [sic] drain cover
     that had previously covered the drain had been removed.  Since the
     incident, the antivortex [sic] drain cover has been secured to the
     drain to prevent further suction injuries.

          Reported by: NA Shorter, MD, Section of Pediatric Surgery, Duke
     Univ[ersity] Medical Center, Durham; JP Woodell, Durham County Health
     Dep[artmen]t; TB Cole, MD, Injury Control Section, JA Hayes, MSPH,
     Div[ision] of Environmental Health, JN MacCormack, State
     Epidemiologist, North Carolina Dep[partmen]t of Environment, Health,
     and Natural Resources.  Unintentional Injuries Section, Epidemiology
     Br, Div[ision] of Injury Control, National Center for Environmental
     Health and Injury Control, C[enters for ]D[isease ]C[ontrol].

          _Editorial Note:_ The findings in this investigation are
     consistent with those from previous reports of abdominal injuries
     among children who sit directly on uncovered openings or vents
     capable of forming a strong vacuum when covered (1).  When a child
     sits on an unprotected suction-drain vent, the child's perineum can
     form a firm seal that creates a vacuum capable of relaxing the anal
     sphincter.  This negative pressure on the exposed rectal walls can
     result in prolapse or intussusception; this, in turn, usually
     produces a full-thickness anterior bowel tear, creating the potential
     for evisceration of the mobile small intestine through the laceration
     and the anal canal.  Damage to the mesentery can produce extensive
     irreversible small bowel ischemia requiring resection.

          Since May 1, 1991, North Carolina has required all newly
     constructed public wading pools to be equipped with a surface skimmer
     and with interconnected double drains to prevent suction-drain
     injuries.  However, pools constructed before May 1, 1991, have been
     allowed to continue operating with a single drain.  The public pool
     involved in this incident was built before the standards became
     effective; however, the pool had been inspected 12 months before the
     injury occurred and had had an antisuction cover in place over the
     drain opening at that time.

          Because a child may be injured within seconds of sitting on a
     drain, adult supervision alone does not effectively prevent
     suction-drain injuries.  Suction-drain injuries can be prevented
     through interventions that prevent vacuums from forming when the
     vents are covered.  Existing pools that may have a single suction-
     drain or multiple suction-drains that can be isolated by valves
     should be equipped with antivortex [sic] covers or with grates at
     least 12 inches by 12 inches over the drains to prevent the
     possibility of a vacuum forming if a child sits on a suction-drain
     opening (2).  In addition, standards of the American National
     Standards Institute/National Spa and Pool Institute and the American
     Public Health Association specify that drain covers be secured in a
     way to prevent removal without special tools (2,3).  Also,
     maintenance personnel should routinely inspect pool drains to ensure
     covers remain secure.  Pools should not be operated if a suction-
     drain cover is missing, broken, or inadequately secured (2).

          For new pools, water circulation systems should be constructed
     so that suction pumps are linked with more than one drain outlet; for
     example, the pump may draw water from two drains in the deepent part
     of the pool or from one drain and a surface skimmer, thus preventing
     a tight seal from forming if one drain is covered.  In addition to
     these barriers, water-safety instruction courses should include
     specific instructions on the prevention of injuries involving pool
     equipment.

     References
     1. Cain WS, Howell CG, Ziegler MM, Finley AJ, Asch MJ, Grant JP.
     Rectosigmoid perforation and intestinal evisceration from transanal
     suction.  J Pediatr Surg 1983;18:10-3.

     2. National Spa and Pool Institute.  American national standard for
     public swimming pools.  Alexandria, Virginia:  American National
     Standards Institute, National Spa and Pool Institute, 1991;
     publication no. ANSI/NSPI-1 1991.

     3. American Public Health Association.  Public swimming pools:
     recommended regulations for design and construction, operation and
     maintenance.  Washington, DC:  American Public Health Association,
     1981: 16-7.

MMWR (oops!) [BOA back in force]
_Morbidity_and_Mortality_Weekly_Report_ is one of my favorite periodicals. (ObSickJoke: Have you seen the swimsuit issue?) >But...there's a tantalizing reference at the end of the article, thusly:
>
>Cain WS (et al). Rectosigmoid perforation and intestinal evisceration
>from transanal suction. J Pediatr Surg 1983;18:10-3.
>
>UCR doesn't carry Journal of Pediatric surgery, so the point of this post
>is that if anybody reading this *is* at a school which has it, I'd be
>damn pleased if you'd look it up. Thanks...
The good news is Cornell University (my source) has the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, the bad news is it didn't start receiving it until 1986.

I second Mr. Lund's request for a quote of the article from the Journal of Pedaitric Surgery (1). Perhaps there's a reader out there who works at a Cancer Institute, or is an R. N.?

I have checked cathouse/urban.legends/misc/pool.drains, and frankly it does not sound as voracious as the above article.

FAQmeister: How certain are you of the 1993 date in the FAQ? How about updating the FAQ to record this earlier (1991) known occurrence? If reference (1) turns up an even earlier instance, I'd encourage the FAQ to report that, instead.

Cathousemeister: Shouldn't this be filed under medical?

ObUL: Agencies that run public pools, which are known to be controlled by

       members of a race I am not a member of, deliberately designed pools
       to eviscerate the intestines of young members of my racial group.

ObDecanter?: These agencies are, in turn, controlled by a Trilateral

Comission/Freemasons/Council on Foreign Relations conspiracy.

-Eric "will NOT sit on uncapped pool suction drain for food" Hyatt