Hot Tub Covers and Safety
Just how dangerous are overweight foam Hot Tub Covers? A year or so back a friend of mine and her husband were in the hot tub with their rigid foam hot tub lid propped up against the wall. A gust of wind blew the hot tub cover and it suddenly fell hitting her husband on the head. The blow was hard enough to push them both under the water. Luckily, they were not trapped were able to recover fairly quickly, or at least it seemed that way.
A few days later the left side of his face went completely numb. He had no feeling and couldn't move it at all. They both were quite frightened and thought he had suffered a stroke. They immediately rushed to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed him with a condition called Bells Palsy, which can be caused by stress and or trauma like a heavy hot tub cover hitting him on the head. He later made a full recovery. He was extremely lucky.
One thing a hot tub covers dealer will never tell you is that every year people are injured by their covers. Most of the injuries have come from a gust of wind blowing the heavy foam cover onto people as they use their spa. Even the occasional drop on the foot while maneuvering the hot tub covers has resulted in a broken arch.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports people have even been drowned after becoming trapped under heavy foam covers. Perhaps now is a good time to search for a better Hot Tub Cover. Today, with the internet, you are no longer limited to products you can find locally. You can search and find the best safest product available on the market period. Do you really want to risk injury or death trying to use your Hot Tub?
Another close friend of mine was checking the chemicals in his spa recently and had a scary experience. Rather than attempting to remove the entire hot tub cover, he decided to just lift one side enough to get at the water and get a sample. He leaned over and held up the cover with one arm while he filled a sampling bottle with water from the hot tub to check the chemical content, and alkalinity.
As he bent over further, the weight of the water logged spa cover dislocated his left shoulder and allowed the cover to hit him on the back, knocking him into the hot tub. He was now face down in the hot tub with his waist pinned to spa from the weight of the hot tub cover. His shoulder was dislocated and he was in extreme agony because of a the pain. He used all his remaining strength to attempt to wriggle free but could not budge the heavy waterlogged cover.
He began to choke as he swallowed spa water and tried to raise up but could barely get his head out of the water. With what could have been his last breath, he screamed for help. Fortunately he had left the door from the house to the deck open. His daughter and her boyfriend heard the scream and looked out to see his legs sticking out from under the hot tub cover.
The two of them were able to lift the cover off of his legs together. The boyfriend jumped into the hot tub and pulled him up out of the water. They rushed him to the hospital where they put his shoulder back in place and treated him for shock.
I have heard shoulder dislocation ranks up there in painfulness under childbirth and femur breakage. I will make the assumption that most people purchase their hot tubs for relaxation and therapy, or leisure. No one expects to injure themselves severely while using their relaxation device.
This same friend has gone through three hot tub covers and is currently on his fourth; he has only had his spa for 12 years. The life of his foam covers has averaged from two to four years, regardless of manufactures claims, all the covers became waterlogged and heavy. He has since bought a Hot Tub Cover that uses air chambers to insulate rather than rigid foam. His new cover weighs no more than 20 pounds and won't become waterlogged and attempt to kill him like his previous covers.
