Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘accident’

The next year and a half Jared’s family would travel five states and seek out top specialists at leading hospitals as he battled to recover.  Today, Jared is still recovering but his condition has improved and his doctors say the chance of reoccurrence is very low. 

 The hard truth though, is  strokes are among the top 10 killers of children.  According to the American Heart Association, the risk of stroke in children 18 and younger is 11 per 100,000, or about 9,000 incidents a year.  Strokes also occur in about 1 out of every 4,000 births. 

 For more information on strokes and how they affect children, please visit know-stroke.org.

Our Florida Child Injury lawyers are committed to providing consumers with the latest child health and safety resources, product recall information and accident and injury prevention news available.

Gymnastics provide opportunities for children to experience growth in  fine and gross motor skills, agility and coordination. Our grandaughter has had such fun already and learned much in her young and limited experience in their local gym.

-But accidents do occur. Consider some basic safety information before enrolling your children in a gymnastics program. Does the gym have adequate staff and supervision for spotting and monitoring? Is equipment properly arranged and maintained? Is there adequate secured matting and floor padding? Is there a plan in the event of a medical emergency? 

Gymnastics injuries have been studied  by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy. Findings suggest gymnastics is overlooked in terms of potential for injury.  Nearly 27,000 injuries are reported each year – concussions, fractures, sprains.

Parents  don’t typically think of gymnastics as a dangerous sport, but rather an activity.  Do your homework first. Then choose the gym that is right for your child!

The Florida Department of  Highway Safety held a public service  event  recently, to educate  local parents about the correct installation of  a child car seat.  The training was  an effort to reduce the number of injuries suffered by children who are either riding unrestrained or in improperly installed safety seats.

The  event, which took place in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas was appropriately called,  ”Help Keep Florida’s Children Safe.”  Officials were on hand to check out  the installation of existing car seats for parents as well as to provide new seats at a discounted price for families in need. 

We commend the efforts of the Florida Department of Highway Safety in educating  parents. We read all too often of tragic accident reports of toddlers or small children  seriously injured because they are riding in a car either unrestrained or not in an age appropriate car safety seat or booster seat.

The unexpected accident does happen.  Always safely secure your children to avoid injury, even when traveling a very short distance.

 Authorities don’t know why a 44-year-old Kissimmee man lost control of his car Sunday night, causing him to hit a light pole and sign post. The man was taken to Osceola Regional Medical Center where he died from his injuries.

A 9-year-old boy who was a passenger in the car was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital to treat serious injuries he sustained in the car crash. Florida Highway Patrol says  the boy was not wearing a seatbelt.

The Dodson Law Firm urges all drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts.  The failure of a child to wear a seatbelt or use a child restraint safety device is a contributing factor in more than one-half of the accidents in which a child dies.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports, “safety belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by forty-five percent. Wearing a seat belt is no longer an option. It’s the law.

Trusting a school with your child takes a great deal of faith…for Lee Ann Mizell, that trust has been lost.

Her daughter, 5-year-old, Kaylee Mitchell has been put at risk twice in the last few months when school officials at Griffin Elementary in Lakeland have lost track of her.

Kaylee is supposed to attend an aftercare program at Griffin. According to her mother, she has been put on a  schoolbus two times and been sent home instead. The problem…her mother works during the day and hasn’t been there at the apartment complex to pick Kaylee up. Both times she has been found wandering around the complex lost.

Fortunately no accidents have occurred. Charlene Brinson, Polk County’s Director of Elementary School issued this statement, “The teacher was dealt with. That’s all I can tell you. It’s a personnel matter.”

Kaylee’s mother is taking matters into her own hands, she is transferring her daughter to another school.

An 18-month-old toddler died after falling from a ground-floor window in Orange County, Florida.    Paramedics and deputies were called to the Lake Margaret home after a 911 call. 

 Authorities have not released any details, but neighbors say that the couple who reside there are foster parents.  Lt. Paul Hopkins said that while there was no clear sign of foul play, the Sheriff’s Office will conduct an investigation and an autopsy will be performed. 

 Any accident concerning a child is tragic.  The leading cause of death in children over one year of age is trauma. Each year, more than 6,000 children die from accidental injury. Over 14,000,000 children are hurt each year from carelessness.

 Home injuries are one of the top causes of children under the age of three being rushed to the emergency room. Almost 70% of children who suffer fatal, accidental injuries at home are ages 4 and under. 

Young children should never be left unsupervised. Adults  have a responsibility to  protect a child from foreseeable risks and harm.