After Drowning, Changes Under Way at SAMLARC

By Martin Henderson

Meeting for the first time since the drowning death of a 3-year-old boy in one of its pools, SAMLARC president Don Chadd got choked up. Residents raised the red flag. And steps were taken toward making sure the tragedy of July 4 isn’t repeated. 

About 40 Rancho Santa Margarita residents descended on the Beach Club facility—where Xavier Ergueta drowned—for the meeting of the Santa Margarita Landscape and Recreation Corporation on Tuesday.  They walked away feeling that change was imminent. 

The meeting was not open to the media, which resident Tess Myers called “a crime,” and security tried to keep out any residents who weren’t listed on the title of their Rancho Santa Margarita homes even though they held SAMLARC cards. In one case, this included not allowing a husband to attend while allowing his wife, though SAMLARC eventually relented. But at least one person was turned away because she was a card-carrying renter and not the owner of the home in which she lived. 

The major takeaway was the eventual formation of an ad hoc committee to examine existing policies and procedures that exist at SAMLARC’s facilities, notably the Beach Club, which is the site of major events such as the Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration. 

The drowning itself was not discussed, but Chadd got choked up when talking about the tragedy, and that seemed to resonate with those in attendance who were given an opportunity to say what was on their mind. There was no Question & Answer Session between board directors and their constituents.

“I think Don Chadd did a great job and was very compassionate,” Myers said. “It seems like they’re taking it seriously, and that’s what the community wants.” 

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The lifeless body of Xavier Ergueta was pulled from the water about 7:40 p.m., while about 700 Independence Day celebrants occupied the Beach Club and thousands more lined the lakeshore. The life-saving efforts over the next few minutes were spearheaded by private citizens, either in attendance at the Beach Club or in the neighborhood who heard a public address appeal for help. 

SAMLARC did not have an automated external defibrillator (AED) present to jumpstart the heart, and there was no pediatric one-way Ambu bag to assist in CPR. Both items were asked for by the four off-duty medical personnel who tried to revive the toddler.

"You had nothing for me," Danielle Gauss, the first person to begin CPR, told the directors.

SAMLARC's pool monitors, who are trained in CPR, were not involved in the resuscitative effort, though SAMLARC's internal investigation concluded they were the first to initiate CPR, which it reported to the Orange County Register and on the HOA website. It later removed that statement of misinformation from its website.

Although Candice Fullenkamp, executive director of SAMLARC, has not returned two weeks of daily phone calls from Patch, her report to the board answered a few questions about how, historically, the organization arrived at the July 4 celebration and the facility suffered its first drowning death.

Mainly, her report said, the organization is working from rules established in 1998 and was worried about liability.

Going forward, the Water Safety Ad Hoc Committee, an idea that was approved unanimously, would: 

• Analyze and evaluate the recommendations of the 1998 Water Safety Committee; 

• Analyze and evaluate the policies, guidelines and related practices approved and adopted by the board of directors to determine if the 1998 recommendations are still relative and effective; 

• Provide recommendations for revisions to the current policies; 

• Propose any new policies, guidelines, practices, supplies and equipment deemed appropriate. 

The committee, according to SAMLARC, would be comprised of representatives from the "board of directors, corporate counsel, management, delegates, parents or Mom's Club members, Orange County Fire Authority, aquatics company, and a member of the 1998 water safety committee.”

Fullenkamp’s remarks indicated SAMLARC had scheduled Doctor’s Ambulance as a non-dedicated service at the Beach Club from 2-10 p.m., during the July 4 event. She has told residents the ambulance had been called away on an emergency at the time of the drowning, though witnesses—notably Gauss—said they did not see the ambulance throughout the day. Gauss, a medical professional who works at Mission Hospital, said she is very sensitive the location of emergency services at events such as the one held by SAMLARC.

Fullenkamp’s report included some changes that have been instituted since the drowning. 

One of the changes is handouts that contain the facility rules in both English and Spanish. Signage at the Beach Club is in English, but the Ergueta family is Spanish speaking; Gauss said Xavier’s funeral was conducted in Spanish. 

Another change is that each pool monitor overseeing the lagoon now has a fanny pack kit that includes an adult and pediatric mask to administer CPR. The four first-responders to the drowning scene complained there was no pediatric one-way mask when they attempted CPR on Xavier. By the end of the month, other pool monitors will have the fanny pack kit, the report promised. 

It was also explained that SAMLARC chose to employ “pool monitors” instead of lifeguards based on the recommendation of an insurance broker who said lifeguards provided pool users a false sense of security. Additionally, the lifeguards’ sole role is to “guard life,” while pool monitors—who are CPR certified and essentially have the same training as lifeguards—have a primary responsibility of monitoring the facility and swimming area for dangerous conditions and unsafe activities. Basically, they check the water and enforce the rules. 

According to Fullenkamp’s report, which was disseminated to attendees:

“The decision was made to have monitor as lifeguards implies a higher standard of care and additional risk/liability that the Board, insurance broker and corporate counsel did not want to assume. It was felt that SAMLARC cannot guard your life. … It was anticipated the number of ‘incidents’ would be reduced with the use of monitors [because] parents would not have a false sense of security that a lifeguard is supervising their child.” 

However, residents countered that there’s confusion about the role of pool monitors vs. lifeguards, and they seemed to get some agreement from the board members. 

For example, buoys carried by the pool monitors have lifeguard written on them, and the signs on the elevated chairs refer to “No lifeguards on duty” rather than “No pool monitor on duty.” Gauss had a photo from the day of the drowning in which that sign was laying at the side of the chair; she said it implied that a lifeguard had set the sign aside because he was on duty. 

"I understand their reasoning for using a pool monitor instead of a lifeguard," Ryan Resnick said, "but I think they should look into the cost of it."

Residents made their case that automated external defibrillators should be at the facility. Such devices are mandatory at schools, and are required by California law at fitness centers; Gauss pointed out the Lago Santa Margarita complex includes exercise equipment stationed around the lake’s perimeter and it should fall into the same category.  

She also said SAMLARC’s contention that it didn’t want the liability associated with having the machines didn’t hold water. 

“The Good Samaritan Law is going to protect them,” Gauss, a board certified lactation consultant and CPR instructor, said after the meeting. “If anyone tries to use an AED and it fails, they can’t be sued. It’s a bigger liability to not have it. 

“Their whole issue of it being a liability risk is debunked. There’s laws that will help them. If you register it with EMS, the liability goes on EMS because it’s their responsibility to come out and make sure it’s working.” 

According to the American Red Cross, for each minute defibrillation is delayed, the chance of survival is reduced by about 10 percent. Additionally, use of an AED with CPR increases the likelihood of success from 30 percent to 70 percent.

Bill Burger was at the meeting with is wife, Liz, and supported the immediate purchase of AEDs, which can be found online for $1,200 or less, and can even be purchased at Costco. 

His point was relatively simple. The next move, he said, was to do the "morally right" thing to protect the residents.

He said that Chadd told him privately AEDs would probably be purchased within three months, though no timeline was formally mentioned during the meeting. Several people thought three months—after the summer—was too long.

"We were all upset there wasn't that extra layer of safety that could have helped," Christina Redwitz said. "It could have happened to any of our children, or an adult."

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: What changes do you think SAMLARC should make to its water safety policies, its use of pool monitors, and providing access to AEDs?