July 28, 2007 10:01 pm
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By Greg Grisolano
news@joplinglobe.com
With more than 200 children in her care every day during the summer, Morgan Ramsey takes lots of field trips to keep them entertained.
“We’re basically a traveling camp,” said Ramsey, director of Youth and Family Services for the Joplin Family Y. “We go to a lot of different places over the summer.”
Trips include Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield and the municipal pools in Joplin. But one place she said they haven’t gone is the Swimmin’ Hole, a private water park outside Joplin in Newton County.
“I have never been there personally, to check it out,” she said. “And I don’t send my staff and my kids anywhere that I haven’t been.”
When it comes to taking her charges swimming, checking out a destination beforehand is one of the rules that Ramsey and other groups follow. They say they use a buddy
system, make sure they have the appropriate number of trained chaperones, and in some cases, test the children’s swimming abilities.
Some of these rules they apply to any field trip, whether water is involved or not.
It was a “lack of supervision” that resulted in the accidental drowning on July 17 of Ethan Cory, of Joplin, according to Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland.
Cory’s body was pulled out of five feet of water — the shallow end of a pool that sloped to a depth of 12 feet at the private water park. Cory, who was just less than 4-feet tall, was part of a group of 34 children ages 5 to 7 from the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Missouri in Joplin who were on a field trip at the Swimmin’ Hole.
“This young boy had zero supervision,” said Copeland, and he criticized everyone from the lifeguards to the chaperones who accompanied Cory and the other children.
Copeland said four chaperones with the club were stationed at different areas in the water park, but the investigation determined that the children were not assigned to a specific chaperone, nor were they assigned to a “buddy system” with other children.
“This child and the other 33 who were with him were allowed to run at will and do what they wanted to do,” he said.
Two lifeguards and three water safety supervisors were on duty at the water park at the time of the drowning, according to James Burt, owner.
Because the park is designated a private pool, Copeland said it is not under his jurisdiction. No criminal charges are expected to be filed against the park or against the Boys and Girls Club, Newton County investigators said.
Pool rules
Ramsey said the drowning shocked many parents who send their children to the Y’s summer camp.
“I had a lot of parents call after the drowning,” she said.
Ramsey said public pools in Joplin require groups such as hers to have no more than 10 children per chaperone.
“It can be less than that,” she said of the ratio. “But 10 to 1 is the max. If we’re there with 11 or more kids per supervisor, we can’t come in.”
Before being cleared to swim, each child also must pass a swim test administered by one of the lifeguards at the municipal pools. The children must be able to swim across the pool and tread water for at least one minute.
“Our kids, usually the older ones, get so annoyed because they make them take it every time,” she said. “Younger kids aren’t allowed to go beyond a certain point, period.”
Other organizations, including the Ozark Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, have similar guidelines.
Dean Ertel, Council Scout Executive for Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts, said any outing requires a detailed “tour permit” that outlines where the outing will take place, how many Scouts will attend and whether it will be a water outing.
Depending on the ages of the children involved, Ertel said some wouldn’t be allowed in deep water, regardless of their swimming ability.
“If you went to our Cub Scout (boys under 10) camp in Joplin, the deepest place in that pool is four feet. It doesn’t get any deeper for kids at that age.”
Chaperones at the Joplin Family Y are all at least 18 years old, Ramsey said, while Ertel said chaperones for Scout trips are usually parents.
“We encourage parents to participate with their kids at all times,” Ertel said. “We have almost a one-to-one ratio on most outings.”
Both said their organizations also provide CPR and first-aid certification training for chaperones.
Buddy system
Ertel and Ramsey also said both of their organizations employ a “buddy system” for children on trips, with chaperones positioned in the front, middle and end of the lines, as well as in the water.
“When the lifeguard blows the whistle, they have to grab their buddy’s hand and put them both up,” Ertel said. “If there’s a single hand up, the world comes unglued pretty quick.”
Ertel said the Boy Scouts do frequent head counts on outings; Ramsey said they use roll calls to keep track of children.
Calls to the Boys and Girls Club of America’s headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., seeking comment for this story were not returned.
However, an e-mail from Jan Still-Lindeman, a media-relations official with The Boys and Girls Club of America, indicated the organization does suggest supervision ratios as a guideline for clubs to follow when they take children on day or overnight trips.
According to the e-mail, the club recommends at least one adult to eight youths on day trips, and a 1-to-25 lifeguard-to-swimmer ratio, with one spotter for every 10 swimmers.
Each club chapter is independent and according to Still-Lindeman, affiliate clubs should comply with applicable state and local laws.
In addition to their regular summer business and the group from the Boys and Girls Club, the Swimmin’ Hole was also hosting a corporate party for the employees of the Olive Garden restaurant and their families the night Cory died.
James Burt, the owner, could not be reached for comment Saturday to find out how many people were at the park the day of the accident.
Skip Drouin, executive director for the Joplin Boys and Girls Club, has declined to answer any questions about the accident, including the age and certification of the chaperones who went to the Swimmin’ Hole, whether the Boys and Girls Club provides swim tests for children in its care and whether the children were assigned to a specific chaperone or used the buddy system.
He also declined to provide any information about the general procedures and practices the club uses when taking children on day trips.
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