Don't use hot pools alone, coroner warns

A Rotorua coroner is urging people to use hot pools in pairs after the deaths of two lone bathers.

Phillip Stanley Binns, 77, of Nelson, and Philip John Ham, 88, of Takapuna, died at Rotorua motel geothermal hot pools in 2007 and 2008 from hydrogen sulphide poisoning, according to findings released yesterday by Rotorua coroner Wallace Bain.

Mr Binns was found dead by his wife leaning over the mineral hot pool at the Pinelands Motor Lodge on November 11, 2007, The Dominion Post reported.

The fumes were so strong he had collapsed beside the pool before he got into the water, the inquest was told.

Mr Ham was found lying face down in a hot pool at the Fernleaf Motel on April 14, 2008.

Mr Ham had got into the pool with his daughter, who got out when she began feeling lightheaded. She returned to the pool 10 minutes later and found her father in the water.

Rotorua pathologist David Taylor said the gas was extremely toxic and similar to cyanide.

The motel operators and Rotorua District Council were not to blame for the deaths, Dr Bain said.

The operators and council had gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the pools were safe and complied with bylaws.

However, to prevent another death, bathers should always bathe in hot pools with another person, Dr Bain said.

He also recommended that hot pool water be stirred and the hydrogen sulphide gas measured by the operator with a handheld tester each time someone went to bathe.

Other recommendations included more warning signs and mechanical ventilation inside the pool area to dispersed the gas.

Rotorua Distinct Council regulatory services manager Jim Nicklin said the council would meet all hot pool operators to ensure safer bathing.

- NZPA