Dad passed out in a hotub and almost died

[jsimo7]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a long time but had scare from my mom and dad and wanted to share this with everyone. My mom and dad are retired. My dad is 78yrs old and mom is 79 in good health, very active, and spend the winters somewhere other than Ohio. This year they went to Arizona in their motor home. Last Fri eve they decided to go up to the hot tub at the park where they are staying. They went in and my mom said it was real hot so she got out after about 5 min. but my father stayed in.  The timer went off about 15 min. later and mom said its time to get out to my dad, he said ok and didn't move. Just about that time his head just went under the water. My mom yelled and he didn't move, so she jumped back in and pulled his head up above the water and realized he had passed out. She tried to pull him out and could not, she was not strong enough at 79yrs old to do it, so she got herself out of the tub layed along side and held his head up, and began to yell for help. No one heard her for about 20-25min. At this point he was in the tub for about 40 min. She was just about out of energy when a young man who was changing the trash bags heard her screams. He came running jumped in the tub (shoes, dressed, wallet ) and got my still unconscious dad pulled out. He called 911 right away and the paramedics came worked on him there for a few minutes, could not get him awake, and rushed him to the hospital. He stayed there for the night and is ok now thank god.
 They have been in my tub before, so they are not new to tubbing, but what happened is, the resort tub temperature was set at 105 and my tub I usually keep it at 101. The difference was almost enough to end his life, if my mom had left for a few min to go to the restroom or something he would have drowned.
  I post this to remind everyone the young and old must have another person there when they are soaking.
 Sorry for the long post but I don't want anyone else to have this happen to them, their family or friends.
 It has ruined my dad from tubbing he told me on the phone yesterday he will not be going in hotubs anymore. Thats so sad because he does enjoy it.
 The moral of this is BE CAREFUL with the temp. of hot tubs. I soak alone all the time and it does make you begin to wonder how smart that is.

[PotomacG]

Thank god your dad is OK.

This is food for thought.  

Thanks for sharing.

Gp

[drewstar]

Wow. I am glad your dad is ok.  

Folks who entertain a lot with tubs should also be aware that all your guests may not like/appreciate/can tolerate super high temps as well.

[Brookenstein]

Wow, what a scary story.  So glad your dad is ok.

[Vanguard]

I think the resort needs to held liable for setting their temp at 105.  This is above the temperature anyone recommends - Doctors, American Heart Association, Hot Tub manufacturers, etc.

Not saying a big litigation needs to be started, but they need to be held accountable for what happened to your dad.  Thank heavens he is okay.

[Bama]

I am so happy to hear that your dad and mom are ok now.
What  a horrible experience!

Thanks for sharing.

[neocacher]

Hopefully, your father, who enjoys tubbing, will change his mind after he fully recovers.  It sounds like a freak accident, and, like being struck with lightning, would never happen again if he was careful and wary.  Enjoyable times should not be given up because of one bad experience.  Life deals each of us scary times, and we are here to LIVE and ENJOY life, not to be afraid of freak occurences that can happen to anyone.  

Hopefully, you will be able to convince him of this at the appropriate time!

Cary in South Dakota.

[Reese]

I think the resort needs to held liable for setting their temp at 105.  This is above the temperature anyone recommends - Doctors, American Heart Association, Hot Tub manufacturers, etc.  Not saying a big litigation needs to be started, but they need to be held accountable for what happened to your dad.  Thank heavens he is okay.

Held liable?  How about informed so that they can lower the  temp, change the limit on the timer, and make sure their warning signs are adequate to prevent this from happening to anyone else?  A public tub at 105 may not be a good idea, but I don't see it as gross negligence.

[The_Pa._Lady]

Thank the good Lord your dad is ok, your mom was his gardian angel.

My question is:  why should it be necessary for the temp to be at 105 in Arizona where the temp. already is warm?  Doesn't make sense!

[Vanguard]

Held liable?  How about informed so that they can lower the  temp, change the limit on the timer, and make sure their warning signs are adequate to prevent this from happening to anyone else?  A public tub at 105 may not be a good idea, but I don't see it as gross negligence.

Sorry, not an attorney here, so I guess I used the wrong word.  I did say I didn't think a big litigation needs to be started.  However, it is incumbunt upon an operator of a swimming pool or spa to know the risks and dangers to its guests.  It is their responsibility to find this information and follow the guidelines.

[drewstar]

The exact same thing happened to my mother in law!

Well, almost exactly.  She had drank a fifth of Wild Turkey and then passed out.  

Oh, she also wasn't in the hot tub.  We found her asleep on top of a pile of coats in the bedroom.


Ok. It might have not been my mother in law.  It might have been me.  Some of the details are kind of fuzzy.

[Reese]

Sorry, not an attorney here, so I guess I used the wrong word.  I did say I didn't think a big litigation needs to be started.  However, it is incumbunt upon an operator of a swimming pool or spa to know the risks and dangers to its guests.  It is their responsibility to find this information and follow the guidelines.

I'm not an attorney, either.  I just reacted to words like "liable, accountable, incumbent, and responsibility", which seemed unneccesarily inflammatory to me.  I believe that Jsimo posted this as a valuable cautionary tale, so I don't want to let it devolve into a debate about assigning blame instead of focusing on making sure it doesn't happen again.  I think that the point of the thread is that people need to be cautious around hot-tubs, especially the elderly -- and that if the tub is hotter than you are used to, be especially careful about how long you stay in.

Peace and safe tubbing! 8-)

[jsimo7]

I talked to my mom today and everthing is ok. She has sore arms and back from holding him and has a sore throat from yelling. Dad is sore and skinned up from being pulled out  and embarssed.  I asked her if she has found the young man that helped her. The office at the park told her he went on vacation the next day and won't be back for a week. They got him a gift cert and a thank you card ready for him when he comes back. They are looking forward to telling him thanks face to face as soon as he returns.

[Zep]

so what is the consensus?

is it dangerous to soak alone?

[MostlyLurkingGal]

The exact same thing happened to my mother in law!

Well, almost exactly.  She had drank a fifth of Wild Turkey and then passed out.  

Oh, she also wasn't in the hot tub.  We found her asleep on top of a pile of coats in the bedroom.


Ok. It might have not been my mother in law.  It might have been me.  Some of the details are kind of fuzzy.

OMG Drew.....you are too funny...ty so much for the laugh!

jsimo7...glad everything is ok now....what a scare....I hot tub alone....and the thought has crossed my mind that it's not the best thing to do.....but it's alone or not at all!