Jul 18, 2007 12:56 am US/Pacific
Parks Require Life Jackets After SJ Boy's Drowning
SANTA CLARA (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Wave pool at Great American where a 4-year-old boy drowned Thursday, July 12, 2007.
CBS
The parent company of an amusement park where a 4-year-old San Jose boy drowned last week said it is now requiring children under 48 inches tall to wear life jackets in all company-owned pools.
The new rule applies to pools at the 18 amusement and theme parks nationwide owned by Cedar Fair, including Great America of Santa Clara, where Carlos Flores died last Thursday.
"We see this as an opportunity to enhance the policies and procedures we already have in place," said company spokeswoman Stacy Frole. "Safety is our priority. I can't stress that enough."
The Great Barrier Reef wave pool inside Great America's "Boomerang Bay" area has remained closed indefinitely since the death while an investigation being carried out by Santa Clara officials and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The new life jacket rule has been implemented at the park's Castaway Creek "lazy river" ride.
At the time of the drowning, signs had been posted at the wave pool recommending life jackets for children. Life jackets continue to be available free of charge to anyone who wants them.
The boy was found without a life jacket under the surface of about two feet of water, according to officials.
Carlos' mother was reportedly sitting on the beach while Carlos and his sister were in the water, according to Fruge.
Yolanda Flores, 27, acknowledged the boy and his 8-year-old sister had been in the wave pool for about two hours last Thursday afternoon. When Carlos returned to the pool after a break, his mother said she lost sight of him for several minutes and the boy's sister then found him unconscious.
Flores has criticized Great America for having only four lifeguards on duty for the 350,000-gallon pool. The park has maintained that six lifeguards were on duty.
On Monday, the Santa Clara County coroner's office released preliminary autopsy results that showed drowning was likely the cause of the boy's death. There was no evidence that he was either beaten or held under water, said Lt. James Keith of the coroner's office.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Elaine Alquist said the boy's drowning has prompted her to craft new legislation requiring small children to wear life jackets while in the pools.
Alquist, D-Santa Clara, said that as both a mother and a grandmother she was especially troubled by the boy's death, and wants to make wearing a life jacket mandatory for small children.
"I want to ensure that all wave pools are safe,"' Alquist said. "We're looking at whether a height limit of four feet would be appropriate."
Alquist said that size and not age is the proper criteria for wearing a life jacket in a wave pool.
"If you get hit by a wave it's not so much whether you are 4r years old or 7 years old. It's whether the weight of the wave can knock you down," Alquist said.
While the period for introducing new bills in the California Legislature has closed, Alquist can still add the legislation onto an existing bill under a process known as "gut and amend."
"I think there's at least a fighting chance we can do it this year," Alquist said.
If Alquist is unable to have the legislation voted on this year she vows to introduce it next year when the new session of the Legislature begins.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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