Pool at Mount Kisco health club reopens after near-drowning

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - A Mount Kisco fitness club’s outdoor pool is back in action after being temporarily closed following the near-drowning of a five-year-old camper.

A post-incident inspection by the Westchester County Health Department cited the Genesis-Saw Mill Club for several public health hazards and/or violations.

According to information gathered from eyewitnesses for the county report, a buddy check had not been conducted, there were counselors on the pool deck but not actually in the water “directly supervising non-swim campers" at the time, and no campers were wearing wristbands to “distinguish swimmers from non-swimmers.”

The report also found that lifeguards had been in the “midst of rotation” and while three had been in the vicinity of the pool they weren’t wearing identifying garments.

Also scrutinized were the club’s “buddy check system” and the way swim tests are conducted.

According to the county inspector’s findings, 16 of the 26 campers who were in the pool at the time of the June 24 incident did not know how to swim.

Non-swimmers are supposed to be restricted to areas of the pool “less than chest deep unless during learn to swim program or with a 1:3 ratio of staff in pool directly supervising non-swim campers,” the report said.

The child, at 39 inches or slightly over three feet high, was rescued in about 3½ feet of water, the report said.

Found floating face down and unconscious in the pool, the boy was pulled out and resuscitated by swimming instructor Valerie Kaplan, a club employee who was giving a lesson to another child nearby.

Kaplan, as assistant swimming coach with the Bedford Central School District, spoke to Halston Media recently about the scare.

According to Kaplan, temperatures on that day were hovering near 100 degrees and the pool was “jam-packed.”

She was just about to conclude the lesson with a little girl when she spotted the boy floating face down.

Kaplan said she picked him up asking “Hey, buddy, what are you doing?”

After finding him “water-logged” and “non-responsive” she yelled for someone to call 911 and carried him to the pool deck where she resuscitated him, Kaplan said.

It took about four cycles of CPR before he finally came around, Kaplan recalled.

By the time EMS arrived, the child was alert enough to speak, she said.

He was taken to the hospital as a precaution and is said to have recovered.

Whitney Kennedy, director of youth and aquatic programs at the club, sent an email to Halston Media stating that the club was “incredibly proud” of its “entire staff for their swift and professional response in rescuing the young boy.”

“Their actions were nothing short of heroic,” she wrote, including an email received from Sam Parish, captain of the Mount Kisco Ambulance Corps, expressing “appreciation and praise for how the situation was handled.”

Changes Made

According to a county spokesperson, the violations have since been corrected.

“The camp made changes to its safety plan that addressed the required number of staff at the pool during operation and the zones of coverage for each lifeguard,” she said.

The camp “was required to do some retraining of lifeguards on drowning awareness and to put in place a supervising lifeguard for the facility,” the county explained.

The club passed its inspection on July 10 and the pool was allowed to re-open on July 11.

In an initial response to questions about the incident, the club’s vice president and general manager, Kevin Kane, told Halston Media that it has “a very, very qualified staff in place who have all participated in additional rigorous training.”

“Our emphasis is safety for our members,” he added.

The club “has been fully committed from day one to addressing quickly and rectifying any shortcomings noted in the report,” Kane noted in a follow-up email, adding: “We’ve taken proactive steps to go beyond basic compliance and strengthen the overall safety and supervision of our aquatics program.” 

According to a statement sent to the media, those steps include adding another lane line to visibly section off shallow, mid-, and deep-water zones. This allows, the club said, lifeguards to better monitor swimmer behavior and “quickly assess skill levels within designated areas.”

The club also issued all lifeguards with “standardized Genesis Health Club lifeguard apparel, which clearly identifies them as certified staff while on duty” and added two more lifeguards, ensuring that it meets – and exceeds – “the recommended staffing levels for safe surveillance.”

“This includes expanded coverage during high-use hours and a more frequent rotation and break schedule to prevent fatigue,” it said.

(In a follow-up inspection on June 28, the county reported finding that three out of four entrances to the pool weren’t locked or monitored.)

According to Kane, lifeguards have completed “enhanced in-service training beyond the requirements, including drills in emergency response, surveillance, spinal management and patron communication.”

The club has also certified “more staff than required in waterfront safety protocols to maintain the highest standard of supervision and care,” he said.

It has “remained in full compliance with all Department of Health directives” and is confident that members “will continue to enjoy a safe and enjoyable summer at Saw Mill Club,” he said.