The Importance of a Self Closing Pool Gate

Tonight, here in Tampa, one of our local news channels presented its annual awards to citizens who have made a difference in somebody's life. One of the winners was a 5 year old boy who saved his 2 year old sister's life when she fell into the family's swimming pool. This family had a pool fence; however, it had the old-fashioned fold-back gate and the fold-back gate was left in the open position. That is how the 2 year old got into the pool.

This incident, which could have turned deadly, would never have happened if the pool fence system had been installed with a self-closing, self-latching gate. . Many adults have access to the pool, i.e., pool service people, pool repair people and others. Too many times an adult walks away from the pool and leaves the fold-back gate in the open position. Parents, it is so important to realize that a self-closing gate makes a pool safety fence so much safer. The fence can never, ever accidentally be left open and a small child can never wander through the fence and fall into the swimming pool. There is absolutely no doubt that a self-closing gate is a necessity.