Drowning Prevention Foundation
California
Nadina Riggsbee's Story (Founder) - Page 2
She organized families of drowning victims to testify at Board of Supervisors meetings. For a full year, the pool industry lobbyists fought hard in opposition to fencing requirements. Before a key vote, a local newspaper ran a story about drowning and the problem of "negligent parents." But she and her co-workers prevailed.
In 1983, the swimming pool ordinance was passed, effective November 1984. Contra Costa County was the first jurisdiction to pass a residential swimming pool ordinance, setting national precedence. However, it covered only the unincorporated areas of the county.
In 1985 she created the Drowning Prevention Foundation, a non-profit agency which works to create awareness and advocate for policy change to prevent childhood drowning. That year, she met with a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, DC, who at first argued that a pool was not a "product." Since then, CPSC has been a valuable partner in advocating 4-sided fencing for residential swimming pools.
Her foundation was a sponsor of California's 1996 Swimming Pool Act, which requires that all home swimming pools built in or after 1998 comply with safety standards for swimming pool enclosures, safety pool covers, or exit alarms. The "or" bothers her. She is a "fence lady," believing that alarms are ineffective, but an easy way to satisfy the building code.
Nadina also educates the public. She has produced educational brochures for pediatricians' offices, preschools, and libraries. Every year, California's governor names May as Drowning Prevention Month. For the past 13 years, Safeway grocery stores nationally have put drowning prevention messages on their paper bags for that month.
Nadina's advocacy goes beyond pool drownings. Children love to play in water. Drownings happen in spas, bathtubs, barrels, 5-gallon pails - any place where water can cover a child's nose and mouth. She is concerned about the use of bathtub ring devices for young children. The bottom suction cups can come loose, children push up, fall forward and drown. She knows of at least 85 drowning deaths due to use of bathtub rings. In July, 2000 her foundation submitted a petition to CPSC to get these devices off of the market.