Fatal swimming pool incident leads to change in lifeguard policy in Southern Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The death of a woman while swimming in a Las Vegas gym pool in February prompted changes to lifeguard requirements at pools in Southern Nevada, health district officials said Thursday.

The incident, detailed in a Southern Nevada Health District news release, occurred on Feb. 4 at a Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC) facility near the intersection of Decatur Boulevard and Tropical Parkway in North Las Vegas. SNHD officials say surveillance camera video from February shows the woman, identified by Clark County Coroner’s Office officials as Leticia Triplett, 58, of North Las Vegas, thrashing around in the pool for about nine minutes.

Triplett was then motionless for eight minutes before another customer active in another pool at the facility noticed her. The customer then pulled Triplett from the water and began CPR while an LVAC employee exited the locker room and entered the pool area. In total, SNHD officials said Triplett was in distress for about 20 minutes before an LVAC employee responded.

Clark County coroner’s officials say Triplett’s death was an accident and list the cause of death as drowning, although a SNHD press release stated, “LVAC maintains this was not a drowning.” The coroner cites hypertensive cardiovascular disease and obesity as other significant factors contributing to her death.

The fatal incident prompted SNHD officials to reverse a decision that had allowed LVAC and several Las Vegas Valley gyms to monitor club pool usage via video feed rather than having a physically present lifeguard at the pool. According to the release, inspections in the years since that decision and two separate incidents, including the February death, have led officials to conclude that using video feeds was not enough to protect the public.

“Since the lifeguard exemption was granted to fitness centers in 2020, 21 locations have experienced 29 pool closures due to noncompliance with the requirements,” the press release states. “Specific safety plan requirements that were not met included the lack of active remote monitoring of the pool area and the lack of documentation of pool area walk-throughs by facility staff.”

According to the SNHD press release, several gyms have either resumed operations with an approved lifeguard plan or are currently reviewing a lifeguard plan. These locations include:

EōS Fitness

• 3325 E. Russell Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89120
• 8125 W. Sahara Ave. Ste. 100, Las Vegas, NV 89117
• 4520 N. Scott Robinson Blvd., North Las Vegas, NV 89031
• 3511 St. Rose Pkwy., Henderson, NV 89052

UFC FIT (pending approval)

• 5651 Centennial Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89149