Hot Tub Safety Tips

If you are going to own a hot tub there are certain safety tips that should be taught to yourself or anyone who intends to use the hot tub.

The very first item, as far as safety goes, is to never let a child near the hot tub without adult supervision.  It is the first point of critical knowledge that is needed for hot tub safety.  Even if you know the child to be an Olympic swimmer, please, do not ever, for any amount of time, leave the child alone within the area of the hot tub, it's just too dangerous and preventable to take the risk.  

Drowning, like in any pools or bodies of water, are the number one causes of fatalities in regards to hot tubs.  Because the effects of a hot tub are to induce relaxation, awareness of how long a person should stay in the tub is important to mention.  Too many times there have been people, even adults, who have relaxed to the point of falling asleep and drowning as a result.  Always keep in mind that the effects of soaking in the hot tub and the benefits they bring can also cause dizziness, light-headedness and sometimes confusion so it is best to be aware of these possible side effects whenever you or someone new comes into your hot tub.  

Two of the most dangerous problems with hot tubs are these: body part entrapment and hair entanglement.  When a drain is working properly, its function is to suction the water from the bottom of the pool and circulate it through the heating units and back into the hot tub.  Because these drains can be powerful, it is worth noting that there have been instances where a body part has become sucked into the drain, which has caused the person to be held under water.  As you may know, if a drain is partially blocked, it will work extra hard (producing more suction) in order to get the job done and this just endangers someone who may not be aware of it.  It is best if there can be two drains working together so if one becomes blocked, it will allow the other to pick up the slack and there will be a much less chance of causing a part of someone's body to become entrapped in the drain. 

The other safety issue is hair entanglement.  This is particularly dangerous when someone with long hair falls asleep or becomes too relaxed to untangle themselves quickly enough and the end result is usually drowning because their hair has caused their head to be held under water for too long.  One safety measure that can be helpful in this type of situation is being aware of the emergency cut-off switch is located and responding immediately to turn the power of the drains off, in order to allow the hair to become untangled.  

It really doesn't take much more than good common sense to keep everyone safe in a hot tub but it does require some understanding of what can go wrong; and what to do if it does.