Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Archive for November, 2009

Parents, often concerned for their small child’s safety on a playground slide, place the child in their lap. A new study suggests this actually may be putting their child at greater risk of injury.

A recent news article reported a study in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics showing that when parents go down the slide with their children on their lap, the children risk breaking a leg.

Sarasota Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. David Sugar sees this frequently, “Their foot gets caught against the side of the slide, their leg gets twisted, and now with the momentum of the heavier parent behind them there is even more force, enough to break the bone.” A mother interviewed for the article had this experience with her two- year- old daughter who suffered a broken tibia, as a result.

Sugar recommends that children go down a playground slide by themselves, feet first with legs straight, not bent.  It is easy for the rubber of a child’s shoe to get caught on the slide…they keep going, the foot is stuck and they twist. We have actually had this happen with our grandchild but fortunately she was not hurt.

Playgrounds are wonderful places for children to run and explore. As a grandparent reading this article has raised my level of awareness of the risks of injury on slides.

The Florida Public Interest Research Group, a toy safety watchdog organization, has announced a new website. The site lists dangerous children’s toys and recalls, in addition to allowing  parents a place to post problems or concerns about children’s toys.

As holiday shopping nears, the group presented their annual report at All Children’s Hospital Education Center in St. Petersburg.

Additional information is available on our Florida child injury website, http://www.jwdodsonlaw.com/blog/dangerous-childrens-toys-florida-child-injury-lawyer-st-petersburg.cfm

In a horrific event in Valrico, a man tried to light his girlfriend’s son on fire by pooring gasoline on the child.  The man, Christopher A. Koberstine was jailed late Sunday with a felony aggravated assault charge. An arrest affidavit states he threw the gasoline on the victim during an argument at about 11:30 p.m.  Prosecutors reminded Judge Gregory Holder that there has been a string of these types of accidents recently.

Stay in touch for updates on this horrific act.

  Approximately 1 million strollers sold by Target and Babies R Us were recalled this month.  British stroller maker, McClaren and the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the recall after twelve reports of amputation surfaced.

 A hinge mechanism is at the root of the problem.  The risk happens when a child’s finger is placed in the side hinge of a stroller while it unfolds. Upon opening, the stroller locks into place, and it can then cut off the tip of a child’s finger.

 Under federal law, companies are required to alert the CPSC if they find information about the safety of their products, according to the commission’s Web site. The commission can hold companies responsible for not following through on this action. The recall includes all Maclaren umbrella strollers sold in the U.S.

The recalled strollers include 11 different models, details of which can be found at the company website www.maclaren.us/recall or by calling  (877) 688-2326.

The Pinellas County School Board defines bullying as systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees and may involve but is not limited to: teasing, social exclusion, threat, intimidation, stalking (including cyberstalking), physical violence, theft, sexual, religious, or racial harassment, public humiliation,  and destruction of property.

 The School Board policy suggests an easy way to determine if someone is bullying is to look for three things generally present in a bullying situation:

 1. Repeated behavior (although it may be the first time you heard about or witnessed the behavior)

 2. Imbalance of power between the person who is bullying and the victim of bullying (could be a physical imbalance or a difference in status)

 3. Intent to harm (either physically or emotionally)

The Pinellas County School Board has established a policy that prohibits bullying and harassment to ensure that all students, employees, and volunteers learn and work in an environment that is safe, secure, and free from harassment and bullying of any kind.

The Pinellas School Board is being sued by an Azalea Middle School student. 

 The student, Jarrard Jackson, claims that he’s been harassed and bullied on three separate occasions by the same group of boys.  The incidents have happened on a school bus, as well as on school grounds.

 A spokeswoman for Pinellas Schools declined to address the specific allegations, according to a news report.

Recent statistics show that half of all bullying goes unreported.  The Dodson Law Firm urges students who have been bullied to report the incident(s) to an adult. Most children do not report that they have been bullied to a parent or an authority figure because they fear they will become even more of a target.

 Anonymous reports can also be made by calling the Campus Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-873-8477. (Contact Information provided by the Pinellas County School Board)

The world’s first rear-seat inflatable seat belts are being introduced by the Ford Motor Company.

Steve Rouhana, senior technical leader for safety at Ford, states that inflatable seat belts are a way to get benefits of air bags, but without the risks of swift forceful deployment.

In addition, Rouhana says it’s expected that the devices will provide more safety for children who can be more vulnerable in a crash. The seat belt will expand during an accident to cover more of a child’s torso, helping to reduce head, neck and chest injuries. In 2010, the inflatable seat belts will be offered as an option on the Ford Explorer, and added to other models later.

The inflatable seat belt’s thicker edge and padded feeling should also make it more comfortable in everyday use. The automaker hopes this will help increase the use of rear seat belts. Today, only 61 percent of rear seat passengers buckle up, compared with 82 percent of front seat passengers, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Dodson Law Firm urges all drivers and passengers, young and old to wear seat belts for their protection and for the protection of those they love.

Medical care today has never been better.  Still, for the new parent, one must be aware of serious neonatal conditions that can arise.

 Developmental Hip Dysplasia is a dislocation of the leg and pelvis.  One in every 1,000 babies born develops this condition.  Generally it is detected at birth and treated instantly by placing the infant in a soft sling for several months. If it’s not recognized and ministered to early, surgery may be required.

 Negligence can play a factor in hip dysplasia not being diagnosed. Thorough hip examinations throughout infancy are essential for proper care.  This condition can be extremely uncomfortable.  

 For more information on developmental hip dysplasia, please visit our Child Injury document library 

KidsandCars.org, contesting recent data published by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, is urging the agency to revisit their findings and require that Automatic Reversing Systems (ARS) technology become standard on all automobiles sold in the U. S. to prevent senseless deaths and child injuries.

Janette Fennell, President of KidsandCars remarked, “This discrepancy of data is unacceptable; we’ve long known that millions of people are injured by power windows. 

The non-profit organization, dedicated to reducing injury or death to children in and around motor vehicles reports  the majority of power windows wield an upward force of 30-80 pounds. It takes only 22 pounds of force to suffocate or injure an infant. The ARS feature is a $6-per-window solution to prevent injuries and deaths. The technology is standard on most vehicles in Europe, including American cars sold there. However, the feature is on less than half of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler models in the U.S.

For more information, please visit KidsandCars.org

A serial flasher has been targeting Pasco County school children for the last month.

 The first incident appeared to happen weeks earlier when a young girl en route to school was flashed.  None of the children have been physically hurt. 

 Kevin Doll, Pasco Sheriff spokesperson alerted parents to use caution. “Keep an eye out for their kids who are either walking to school, riding their bikes to school…because this suspect has been operating in the morning hours while kids are going to school, or in the afternoon when they’re coming home from school, ” Doll said.

 Surveillance has been conducted at several schools where some of the incidents occurred, but detectives have not been able to track the suspect down.