Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center Offers New Swimming Pool Refresher Course

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) held its first Swimming Pool Inspection Refresher Course, June 26.

The webinar-based course was attended by 80 inspectors and water venue operators from nearly 40 Department of Defense (DOD) installations world-wide, and included U.S. Army public health personnel.

Anthony Carotenuto, NMCPHC Preventive Medicine specialist taught the course that provided attendees with an overview of key elements critical to help reduce the risk of illness and injury.

Pool inspections cover five main areas including the body of water, surrounding areas, facility records, pump/filter rooms and chemical storage.

According to Carotenuto, the course is a precursor to a two-day recreational Water Certification Course that will be available to DoD personnel in the near future.

Both of these courses are ultimately intended to ensure that inspectors remain knowledgeable about the science and engineering of pools and spas.

"Swimming pools and spas are not something new," said Carotenuto. "You can trace back their use to the ancient Greeks and Romans. They use pools and spas as we do today for relaxation, promote community, encourage wellness and just for fun."

Although the basic engineering is similar, procedures for disinfecting and cleaning pool/spa water have significantly changed.

"Our sand filters and ultraviolet disinfection can be traced back to Roman engineering where water passes through a bed of sand removing the large particles," explained Carotenuto. "The water was then moved via open air aqueducts allowing the sun's rays to disinfect the filtered water."

In spite of the fact that swimming pool safety technology has greatly improved, recreational water injuries and illnesses continue to rise. Drowning is the second most common cause of unintended injury or death in children under the age of four. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention one out of eight public pool inspections conducted in 2008 resulted in an immediate closure due to serious health code violations.

"Inspections of pools and spas can be very complicated when performed correctly," said Carotenuto. "
The risks to bather's health and safety come from a myriad of possibilities. Inspectors should visualize the pool as a matrix of items that converge into one. Our inspectors must be prepared to engage several scientific disciplines. They need to incorporate microbiology, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, risk communication and how that all relates to public health. "

Inspectors are expected to educate as well as regulate. "Taking the time to perform a thorough and professional inspection each time you enter a pool site and learning to communicate your findings to management are the most important skills you can develop," said Carotenuto. "Influencing operators on awareness and their responsibility to minimize and mitigate risks to the user is also key."

NMCPHC is part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health care network of 63,000 Navy medical personnel around the world who provide high-quality health care to more than one million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ship, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.

For more information about swimming pool safety visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcphc/program-and-policy-support/swimming-pools-and-bathing-places/Pages/default.aspx.

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