'She Died in My Arms': A Mother's Mission for Safe Pool

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The Holiday Inn manager said he was unaware of the problem until told by ABC News. He said he immediately installed the kind of drain cover required under the new federal law.
In San Francisco, reporters with our affiliate KGO spot checked nine motels chosen at random and found none with the new safer drain covers.

WFTV in Orlando found a spa drain cover that, according to a local safety expert, creates a dangerous vortex effect that could cause drowning.

KGTV in San Diego found a spa drain capable of sucking objects through the drain cover itself.Finally, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an ABC News intern discovered what experts say is a hazardous drain cover in a municipal wading pool that could trap children.

Joseph Roszak, of the Milwaukee County Parks Aquatics Department, says that because Milwaukee's pools have a multi-drain system and do not have a full reverse flow, the drains are compliant with state regulations.

He added that the Milwaukee County Parks' pools are thoroughly inspected each year by both the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Neighborhood Services and are compliant with current regulations.

While experts acknowledge that the pool in Milwaukee, along with some of the other drains examined by ABC News, are compliant with standards established before the Graeme Baker Act was passed, they say the drains are still dangerous and will be illegal in only a few months when the act takes effect.

"What could easily happen is kids' hair could be pulled all the way down," says Pennington who believes that come December, "if the federal government finds that pool it will be shut down." Few understand the danger posed by covered pool drains. Most pool drains across the country have some sort of cover, however, some drain covers are unsafe. Flat drain covers, which ABC News' investigation found to be widespread, threaten death or injury in two ways.

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