“Noah Dean and Nate Act” Approved By House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee

Legislation which aimed at preventing electric shock injuries and drowning deaths near marinas and boat docks in Tennessee passed out of this House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee this week in Nashville.  The “Noah Dean and Nate Act” requires marinas to install ground fault protection, post notices about the danger of electrical leakage into waters surrounding a marina, and requires annual inspections by the Tennessee Fire Marshal’s office to ensure ground fault safety in the future.

On July 4, 2012, 10-year-old Noah Dean Winstead and 11-year-old Nate Lynam, best friends, were struck by an electric current while they were swimming near a houseboat at CherokeeLake. Noah died at the lake, and Nate died the following day – both from electric shock drowning. Electric current flowed, not only through the children, but also into anyone who attempted to dive in and save the boys. Electricity can come from several places at a lake including pedestals, pumps and boat lifts. In this case, the electric current leaked from a boat and into the water where the two children swam. Unfortunately, the marina did not have Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters in place to stop the flow of electricity.

The legislation takes steps to decrease the likelihood that a tragedy of this nature happens again. First, it calls for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters to be installed at each boat slip in a public marina and requires any main overcurrent protective device that feeds a marina to have ground-fault protection not exceeding one hundred milliamperes (100 mA). Ground fault circuit interrupters act as breakers that kill the main power source when too much electricity is detected in the water. It also requires that an inspection of every marina in the state be made through the fire marshal’s office. Finally, permanent safety signage must be installed to give notice to individuals using the boat dock or marina of the electric shock hazard risks. Passing this bill into law will not only help in eliminating the potential risk of electric shock drowning, but will also shed light on this little known issue.

In 2012, eight children lost their lives because of electric shock drowning. Ironically, on the same day that Noah Dean and Nate were electrocuted, two brothers in Missouri were killed after they suffered electric shock drowning near a private dock in the Lake of the Ozarks. As a result, states are slowly starting to take notice of this problem and pass legislation similar to Tennessee’s proposal. West Virginia recently passed into law, the “Michael Cunningham Act,” which ensures that boat docks and marinas are up to date on the National Fire Protection Association and National Electric Code.