Splash Alarms

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths in children between the ages of one and fourteen nation wide and the third leading cause of injury- leading deaths of children in New York. Technical advances have produced several different types of pool alarms designed to sound a warning if a child falls into the water. When used in conjunction with access barriers, these alarms provide greater protection against accidental pool drowning.

The New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code requires that all swimming pools be equipped with an approved pool alarm which:

1. Is capable of detecting a child entering the water and giving an audible alarm when it detects a child entering the water:

2. Is audible poolside and at another location on premises where the swimming pool is located.

3. Is installed, used, and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

4. Is approved by Underwriter's Laboratory, Inc. (UL®) (or other approved independent testing laboratory) to reference standard ASTM F2208 entitled "Standard Specification for Pool Alarms".

5. Is not an alarm device which is located on person(s) or which is dependent on device(s) located on person(s) for its proper operation.

A pool alarm installed must be capable of detecting entry into the water at any point on the surface of the swimming pool. If necessary, to provide such capability at every point on the surface of the swimming pool, multiple pool alarms may be necessary.