Articles Posted in Injuries to Children

If there’s a baby in your home, if you’re expecting one or if you take care of one, there are a few things that you need to know about their sleep environment to help keep them safe. Because babies spend much of their time sleeping, the nursery should be the safest room in the house.

Please consider getting a new crib for your baby. If that is not possible, the AAP and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) encourage you to check the crib frequently to make sure that all hardware is secured tightly and that there are no loose, missing, or broken parts.

Our Vero Beach child injury lawyers understand that we want our children to be comfortable. But it’s important to remember that many cribs manufactured before 2010 are inherently flawed and do not meet more rigorous construction requirements for new cribs.

To prevent suffocation, never place pillows or any kind or thick quilts or blankets in a baby’s sleep environment. But that’s only the beginning. Read, review and share the following safety tips to help ensure your child’s safe sleep.
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It’s that time of year again: when children pack up backpacks and lunch boxes and head back to the classroom. With this time of year come serious risks for pedestrian and bicycling accidents. There are millions of students who use their own two feet (or their own two wheels) to get to and from school — or the bus stop.

Unfortunately, this is also a time when we see an increase in the number of traffic accident fatalities among young children.

Our Broward injury attorneys understand that there are more than 60 children under the age of 19 who are injured as pedestrians in the U.S. each and every day. That’s close to 426,000 in the last 15 years. In 2010 alone, there were more than 500 pedestrians killed. Since 1995, there have been more than 11,000 child pedestrians killed after being hit by a motor vehicle.

It’s important that parents take a proactive role in helping to protect children on their ventures to and from school. Make sure that you talk frequently about walking and biking safety with your young travelers. Before the first day of school, make sure you locate the safest route for your child to take. Make sure you practice this route a number of times before letting them make the trip on their own. And it’s also important to make sure that you review the following safety tips with them. Get other parents on board with these safe traveling habits, too.

Walking to School:

-Always obey traffic signals and markings.

-Never walk into the street from between parked vehicles, behind bushes or shrubs.

-Make sure that you look in all directions for oncoming traffic before entering the road.

-Cross the street at a corner or crosswalk and walk, don’t run, across intersections.

-Take off headphones before crossing the street.

-If you have to use your cell phone, stop walking before doing so.

-Always use a sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk available, walk facing oncoming traffic and keep as far to the left as possible.

Riding Bicycles to School:

-Follow all rules of the road.

-Ride on the right side of the road, in the same direction as traffic.

-Always use the appropriate hand signals before turning.

-Stop at all intersections and walk your bike across the road when permitted.

-Look left and right before attempting to cross the road.

-Avoid riding when it’s dark outside. The risk of injury during nighttime is four times greater than during the daytime.

All drivers need to recognize the safety needs of pedestrians, especially children. Young, elderly, disabled and intoxicated pedestrians are the most frequent victims in auto-pedestrian collisions. Generally, pedestrians have the right-of-way at all intersections; however, regardless of the rules of the road or right-of-way, you as a driver are obligated to exercise great care and extreme caution to avoid striking pedestrians.
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If you’ve got a child in your home, checking the recall list should be on hour home safety list.

Recently, officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled close to 500,000 Baby Einstein Activity Jumpers because of their serious risks of injury to young users.

According to officials, there have been more than 60 injuries reported because of the defective baby seat. And these are only the incidents that were recorded. Many believe that some have gone unreported. What happens is that the sun shaped toy attachment in the activity seat has a tendency to snap back with force and injure the infant.

Our Broward child injury lawyers understand that children are some of the most helpless consumers. They rely on our decision making and our alertness to help to protect them from injury and dangerous products. This is why it’s important for parents to stay up to date with the latest recalls from the CPSC. Staying proactive is going to help to eliminate accident risks.

Kids II, the company that manufactured these jumpers, has already received various complaints of cuts and bruises. One of the reports included a 7-month-old child who suffered a skull fracture. In another complaint, an adult suffered from a chipped tooth, reports the Examiner.

The Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumpers with the model number 90564 fall under this recall. This model number can be found on a tag attached to the undersurface of the seat. The company adds that all Baby Einstein Activity Jumpers made before Nov. 2011 have also been included in this recall.

If you have one of these products in your home, you should stop using it immediately and contact Kids II by calling their toll-free number (877) 325-7056 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or you can visit www.kidsii.com and click on the Recall link provided at the bottom of the page.

According to the CPSC, there were close to 15 reported toy-related fatalities among children under the age of 16 in the U.S. in 2011. Of these fatalities, 12 of them were under the age of 13. Close to 55 percent (or 13 fatalities) of these children died from some sort of asphyxiation (positional asphyxiation, choking or traumatic asphyxia). These fatalities weer associated with balloons, toy baseball bats, musical cribs toys and other unspecified toys. This is a common trend that we see year after year.

Five of these fatalities were young female children and eight of them were young males. The youngest of the fatalities occurred to an 8-month-old.

During the same year, there were close to 263,000 toy-related injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms.

What you may think is a safe, fun gift for your child may end up being an accident waiting to happen. Do your research before purchasing their next toy and make sure you’re giving them the gift of safe play. It’s a move that could wind up saving their life.
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Temeratures are on the rise (if you can believe it’s getting even hotter), and with those increases comes a spike in the risks for heat stroke. We’re talking more than getting hot in the yard or on the job, we’re talking about leaving kids and pets inside an unattended vehicle.

It’s a mistake that even the most loving and caring parents and guardians can make and it can turn deadly in a matter of minutes.

According to MSN, there have already been 20 child deaths in the U.S. so far this year because they were left unattended in a vehicle. In 2012, there were close to 35 children who died in these horrific accidents.

Our Fort Lauderdale child injury lawyers understand that the heating dynamics of a car are much different other forms of transportation. Car windows actually act as a catalyst for rapid temperature increases. Windows let in the sun, and the sun is absorbed. And our vehicles have a lot of windows. Easily, the temperatures inside a car can become twice the temperatures of outside.

A lot of people believe that the color of the vehicle is the biggest factor in determining how fast a car will heat up, but it’s actually the inside of a vehicle that has more pull. Interiors with dark leather will heat up the quickest.

Unfortunately, pets and children face the most risks of heat stroke in these scenarios as they can’t cool their bodies as efficiently as adults. As a matter of fact, children heat up about five times quicker than adults.

Heat stoke happens when the human body reaches 104 degrees. At that point, the body hits survival mode and doesn’t perspire anymore. When it hits 107 degrees, body cells start to die. Here is when internal organs start to fail, and death happens quickly. This can all happen in a matter of minutes when left inside a hot vehicle.

A vehicle’s temperature can rise about 19 degrees in 10 minutes. In an hour or two, the in-car temperatures can rise by 50 degrees.

Currently, there are more states in the country that have laws on the books that stop people from leaving pets inside an unattended vehicle than have laws against keeping kids in an unattended vehicle.

Parents and guardians, you’re asked to check out the interior of your vehicle before locking up and walking away. It’s important you do something to remind yourself to check the backseat especially. This is where quiet, sleeping children are oftentimes (unintentionally) left behind. Consider leaving your purse or briefcase in the back seat of the vehicle. This way, you’ll be forced to check the back seat of the vehicle before getting out. You can also try leaving yourself a reminder in the front seat, like a post-it or a picture, for the reminder. If you see a child inside a vehicle unattended, call 9-1-1 immediately. Your call could wind up saving their life.
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Our kids are going to be getting out of school for Summer Break pretty soon, and they’re going to be spending a lot of time outside. While that’s good for them and helps to keep them healthy, it also serves up some serious risks. We’re talking about the risks they face for pedestrian accidents.

Unfortunately, our young ones don’t always understand the workings of traffic and may end up being seriously injured or killed. As a matter of fact, there were close to 235 pedestrian fatalities among children under the age of 14 in the U.S. in 2009, according to Safe Kids USA.

Our Lauderhill child injury attorneys understand that these kinds of risks can happen anywhere — not just on the road. They can happen on sidewalks, parking lots and even driveways. As a matter of fact, these areas were the top locations where we saw children under the age of 3 get into pedestrian accidents. Close to 75 percent of these fatalities happen at non-intersection locations.

As a parent and a guardian, you’re going to want to keep your closest eye on your child between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. This is when these accidents are most likely to occur. More than 40 percent of these accidents happened during this small window of time.

If you’ve got a little boy in your home, you want to pay extra attention, too. Close to 70 percent of these accidents happened to young boys.

So we know the risks and we know who’s involved, now how do we help to keep them safe? Lucky for you, we’re here with some important safety tips for you to share with your children.

Child Pedestrian Safety Tips:

-Always cross the street by using a crosswalk or crossing where there is a traffic signal.

-Before crossing the road, make sure you make eye contact with drivers to ensure that they see you?

-Look left, right and left again before crossing the street. If you think you’ll have to hurry to make it across safely, wait until there is more time.

-Never let children under the age of 10 walk alone.

-Keep an eye out for vehicles that are backing up.

-Never play in the driveway or in a parking lot.

-Always walk across the street — never run.

-When riding a bike, always get off and walk the bike across the street. You don’t want to tumble over in the middle of an intersection.

-While playing outside, make sure you’re wearing bright clothes. This is going to help ensure that everyone around can see you.

-When it gets dark out, it’s time to go home. Your risks for an accident are higher when it’s dark.

-Never dart out into the road. Stop and look before stepping on the pavement.
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A 9-year-old boy was killed and 16 others were injured in a recent school bus accident in Port St. Lucie. According to the TC Palm, a loaded sod truck rammed right into the side of the bus.

Our St. Lucie school injury lawyers understand that school buses might be coming to a rest here soon, with the end of the school year approaching. But that doesn’t mean that our students won’t still be out traveling for school trips and other events. When the school buses are parked, 15-passenger vans are a common mode of transportation. They’re used for summer camps and for other fun activities. But the truth is that they may be no safer than school buses. In fact, federal law now prohibits most schools from using them for student transportation.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these 15-passenger vans are high susceptible to serious rollover accidents. It’s because they’re sensitive to loading. That’s why officials with the NHTSA are urging drivers to make sure that they understand how much weight these vans can hold. The heavier these vehicles are, the harder they are to handle.

There’s also a high risk for accidents with these vans because, according to research, drivers of these vans oftentimes lack the experience of driving a larger vehicle. These vans handle a lot differently than our smaller passenger vehicles. They’re longer and they’re wider. Only drivers with commercial driving experience should jump behind the wheel of these vans.

Another common factor of these van rollover accidents are improperly inflated tires. According to a recent survey from the NHTSA, about a third of all 15-passenger vans have at least one tire that is significantly under-inflated. To know how to best inflate your tires, your best bet is to check the vehicle’s owner’s manual. You want to make sure you fill them up before every long-distance trip and check them regularly.

If you’re driving one of these vans, be sure that you keep your eye on the speed. The faster you’re traveling, the higher your risks are for an accident as taller, narrower vehicles are more likely to rollover than shorter, wider vehicles. That’s why it’s more important for the drivers of these larger vans to slow down and to be careful. This is especially important when we run into that Florida rain. Make sure you’re adjusting your driving habits to the weather outside.

Keep up on the maintenance of the van, too. Check the fluids regularly, along with the windshield wipers and the condition of the tires. Preventative maintenance is one of your best ways to stay out of an accident.

You can’t take a break from safety if you’re a passenger in one of these vans either. Make sure that you’re always wearing your seat belt on every single trip. As a matter of fact, close to 90 percent of the people who have been killed in rollover accidents in these kinds of vans were reportedly not wearing their seat belts at the time of the accident.
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Every year, thousands of children are rushed to Florida hospitals due to unintentional poisoning stemming from exposure to or consumption of household chemicals and medicines.

Our Hallandale Beach injury lawyers know that while the number of child poisoning fatalities has been dramatically reduced over the last five decades, there are still far too many.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is again promoting National Poison Prevention Week, reported that back in the 1960s, some 400 children died each year from poisoning accidents. Now, we count roughly 40 each year.

One is too many.

Another 90,000 nationwide are rushed to receive emergency care.

Child resistant packaging is one way that the agency has been able to drive down the number of poisonings, particularly on prescription medications and dangerous chemicals like bleach and ammonia.

But new risks appear to be emerging daily.

The CPSC has recently issued warnings about both coin-size batteries and single-load liquid laundry detergent packets.

Button batteries are frequently used in things like remote controls, toys, keyless entry remotes, watches, calculators, flashing shoes and jewelry, digital scales and even musical greeting cards. They’re tiny. They’re shiny. Little hands can easily grab them and pop them in the mouth before parents even realize what’s happened. The devices are not so much a choking hazard as a chemical burn hazard, and it can be fatal if the device isn’t removed within two hours.

In the last several years, there have been 30 deaths and 125 cases of serious burns due to child battery consumption.

The laundry detergent packets, meanwhile, are not only a potential choking hazard, they release highly concentrated, toxic chemicals when in contact with water. Children who have swallowed or come in contact with these packets have suffered loss of consciousness, vomiting, drowsiness, throat swelling, breathing problems and temporary vision loss. Just last year, there were 500 reported incidents of both children and adults who had been injured by these products.

Both of these products are particularly appealing in size, shape and texture to children. While the CPSC is working with manufacturers to potentially change the design and create more appropriate warning labels, it’s incumbent upon parents and caretakers to keep these items safely out of reach of children.

In order to reduce the chances of a child injury, the CPSC recommends the following:
–Household chemicals and medicines should be stored in their original containers, which should be child-resistant;
–Potentially dangerous substances should be stored up high, out of a child’s sight and reach;
–Young children should remain in your sights at all times, particularly when handling potentially dangerous products;
–When administering medicine, keep the light on so you can make sure you are giving the proper dose each time;
–From time-to-time, go through your medicine cabinet and throw away any unnecessary or old medications;
–Don’t take your medicine in front of children, and make sure they know that medicine is “medicine” and not “candy.”
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Most resorts and hotels have pools, as do amusement parks and many private residences. While pools can provide a great way to enjoy a summer afternoon and to cool off from the heat, our Florida swimming pool accident attorneys know that swimming pools can also be very dangerous, especially for children.

Unfortunately, a recent tragic accident at a Disney resort served as an important reminder of how devastating the consequences of a swimming pool accident can be. As the weather gets warmer and people go on vacation for the summer, everyone nationwide should look upon this tragic Disney accident as a wake-up call to focus on swimming pool safety.

The Drowning Accident
According to CNN, a Missouri family was visiting Disney’s Pop Century Resort this March when the tragic accident happened.

A 13-year-old boy from the family was playing in the swimming pool with several friends. Relatives were watching the boy and his friends jump in and out of the water but there were no lifeguards on duty at the swimming pool. Suddenly, however, the young boy did not surface from the swimming pool.

Although it was only a matter of minutes before someone noticed that he was submerged in the water, help came too late. CPR performed at the accident scene by two volunteer firefighters were not enough to save the boy. He was pulled out of the swimming pool during the Sunday incident, but he subsequently died on the following Tuesday morning.

It is still not clear exactly how or why the young boy drowned in the pool. Also unclear at this time is whether Disney will be liable for the wrongful death that occurred.

Drowning Injuries and Liability
Drowning is something that doesn’t just happen. As a water safety expert interviewed by CNN pointed out, there is always an incident that causes the drowning and the drowning can occur only in situations when someone is under the surface of the water and unable to rise or to call for help.

The process of active drowning starts after the swimmer has been under the water’s surface for between 20 and 30 seconds. Swimmers can be under for around a full minute holding their breath before damage starts to happen, but once the swimmer has been under without oxygen for 90 seconds or longer then there is no guarantee of full recovery even when rescue happens. One four or more minutes have passed, then recovery from the drowning is no longer possible and even a person who has been resuscitated will likely have suffered permanent brain damage.

With a minute of time before permanent damage is done, lifeguards may be able to save lives. However, there was no lifeguard on duty in this case.

While it is true that Disney did have a sign up indicating that swimmers entered the pool at their own risk, such signs do not automatically mean that the resort is not liable when injury occurs to their guests. Pool owners throughout Florida and in other resorts around the country routinely post such signs to try to escape lawsuits if someone gets hurt, but a negligent resort owner or a resort that puts its guests at risk in some way may still be held responsible when injury or death occurs.
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Parents beware! Play yards are serving up some serious risks for accidents, thereby endangering your young ones.

Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced new safety efforts to address the dangers of play yards. There were far too many accidents happening as a result of the faulty design of these devices.

A play yard is a framed enclosure for your child. It has a sturdy floor and either fabric or mesh walls on each side. It can be easily folded down to travel or for storage. Now, new safety standards are going to better protect young occupants. Just make sure you’re aware of these standards and aware of other ways you can keep your child safe. Don’t rely on others and product design to do this for you.

Our Fort Lauderdale child injury attorneys understand that we purchase our child’s cribs, play yards and toys and rely on the manufacturer to ensure that they’re safe. Unfortunately, officials with the CPSC oftentimes find that these products are dangerous and can seriously harm young occupants. Sometimes, these defects are pointed out too late and children are injured or killed.

New Safety Standards for Child’s Play Yards:

-The side rails on these devices have to be more reliable. They can no longer create that sharp V shape when they’re folded down. This V shape is what serves up those serious strangulation dangers for small children.

-The corner brackets have to be stronger. The stronger design of these brackets it to help stop them from breaking and exposing children to sharp edges. These edges can cause laceration hazards and the weak brackets can also increase the risks of a side -rail collapse.

-The mattresses have to be sturdier and their attachments do, too. Officials don’t want children getting trapped under the mattress.

All of these standards were passed as a part of the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act (also known as Danny’s Law). Danny was a child who was killed in a play yard in Chicago back in 1998. He was napping when the play yard collapsed and suffocated him. Officials made this act in honor of him and his family.

The truth of the matter is that these play yards, and even cribs, can be extremely dangerous to children. Each year, officials estimate that about 700 kids under the age of 1 are killed just from cushions and pillows in a baby’s sleep area.

The safest place for your child is in a crib or a play yard that meets CPSC’s safety standards. You also want to make sure that you’re not adding to the risks though. Never put pillows, blankets or stuffed animals. Even these fluffy bundles of comfort can serve as suffocation hazards to infants and toddlers.
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Parents of a 1-year-old baby boy are hugging him a bit tighter tonight.

Our Vero Beach personal injury lawyers understand that the boy had been found in a backyard swimming pool, floating and unresponsive. We don’t know yet whether the incident was at the boy’s home or whether he was at someone else’s home. We also don’t know how long he may have been in the water.

What we do know is that a bystander rushed to the child’s aid, performing CPR until county emergency crews could arrive. By the time an ambulance loaded the boy up for transportation to the hospital, they say he was alert and breathing. This is probably in no small part due to the quick action of bystanders.

Police aren’t planning to pursue any criminal charges, but it’s important for everyone with young children and all pool owners to understand that such incidents are 100 percent preventable.

The Department of Children and Families reported that 32 children drowned in Florida in 2011. Of those, eight were in Broward and three were in Palm Beach County, according to the Sun-Sentinel. (Some researchers contend the number is actually higher, as only those flagged by the Department of Children and Families are counted.) Regardless, drownings accounted for 25 percent of all child deaths in Florida that year, and the vast majority of these incidents happened when babies or young children fell into swimming pools.

In Florida, this is a greater consideration than many other places because not only are we surrounded by bodies of water, many more homes have pools they can enjoy year-round. But pool owners as well as parents have a responsibility to do all they can to prevent a tragedy. In many cases, visiting residents and tourists are not as well-versed in pool safety and may be at even higher risk for a winter pool accident.

Pool owners – even those without children – should consider implementing the following:

–Installing a fence, at least 4-feet tall – around the pool or hot tub. Use self-closing, self-latching gates, and ask your neighbors to kindly do the same.
–Install – and use – a lockable safety cover on your hot tub.
–Install door alarms if the back of your home essentially serves as the fourth side of a fence around the pool. If you have small children, it may even be a good idea to install guards on any nearby windows.
–Make sure your hot tub and spa have compliant drain covers.
–Consider installing an underwater alarm or surface wave.

Parents or caretakers should know that if a small child suddenly goes missing, the very first place they should look is the pool. In these situations, seconds can be critical.

Children, especially those living in Florida, should be taught to swim at a young age, and they should be supervised around the water. Lastly, it’s a good idea for everyone to know CPR. As this situation clearly illustrates, it could be the difference between life and death.
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