A then three-year-old boy has been severely disabled since a swimming accident in the Alpenwarmbad Benediktbeuern. However, the court does not see any fault on the part of the municipality and the lifeguards.
Benediktbeuern/Munich – The municipality of Benediktbeuern breathes a sigh of relief: The Munich II Regional Court has dismissed a lawsuit against the municipality's liability insurance. 1.4 million euros were sued – because of an alleged violation of the duty to ensure traffic safety in the Alpenwarmbad Benediktbeuern.
It's been almost seven years since a bright three-year-old escaped his parents and fell into the children's pool without water wings. He went down quickly, a nine-year-old bravely took him out of the pool. The lifeguards, under the guidance of a pediatric nurse, immediately began resuscitation. The boy survived, but has been severely disabled ever since.
Lawsuit against Gemeiidne Benediktbeuern dismissed
Criminally, the lifeguards could not be blamed. An investigation was discontinued, so the two employees could not be accused of anything. But the health insurance company, which already had to pay 1.1 million euros in treatment costs for the child, was forced to curb the horrendous expenses and the consequential costs they would incur. It therefore brought an action before the Munich II Civil Court.
However, the civil court could not find any error – neither in the organization and distribution of the lifeguards on site nor in the rescue measures. The judges did not recognize the plaintiffs' allegation that the pool should have been demarcated with a railing or a fence so that a toddler could not easily get from the lawn into the water. A municipality must be able to rely on the fact that a toddler is carefully supervised during a visit to the swimming pool, the ruling said.
Forensic scientist: "A brain cannot survive without irreversible damage"
The rescue measures had also been exemplary. According to a forensic expert, the lifeguards could not have started suctioning the lungs earlier because they had neither the necessary intensive care skills nor the appropriate equipment. It was only the emergency doctor who started when she noticed that despite the immediate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by the lifeguards, no air got into the child's lungs. According to the forensic pathologist's calculations, the three-year-old was undersupplied with oxygen for 25 minutes. "a brain cannot survive without irreversible damage," the forensic expert had already explained at the hearing in March of this year.
You can find even more up-to-date news from the region at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.