Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘trauma’

Fire and burn injuries are the second leading cause of accidental death in childlren ages 1-18. Over 100 children a day are treated in emergency rooms for kitchen and scald burns alone.  Aside from the pain and suffering young burn victims must endure, the emotional and psychological trauma is often devastating.

The Children’s Burn Camp of Florida, in Umatilla  offers a safe haven for burn injured children to go for fun, friendship and a chance to see that they are not alone. It is the first statewide burn camp of its kind. Held at the Florida Elk’s Youth Camp, the second weekend in November, the camp is a wonderful opportunity for children who have suffered severe burn injuries to share their feelings.  CBF pays 100% of the expenses for children between the ages of 6-17 to attend the camp- including transporting, lodging, feeding and entertaining. The only restrictions are that the children be one year post burn and be comfortable being away from family members.

For more information  about this wonderful camp supported by volunteers and operated on private and corporate donations – with no paid staff, visit their website @ www.childrensburnfoundationoffl.com

Florida Child Burn Injury Lawyer in Clearwater, working to make safety every child’s reality.

Elizabeth Quinn is an exercise physiologist and fitness consultant who works with organizations designing functional training programs.  Here are some important tips she supplies for parent’s whose children are involved with youth sports.

 Although some may appear to be common sense, sometimes  it’s the “smaller things” that are overlooked that could lead to child injury. Many children experience  minor bruises and injuries as they participate in youth sports. But there are some safety considerations for parents in the event an injury does occur and steps to take  to protect children from more serious injuries.

• Does the coach have first aid training and an emergency action plan?
• Is there a safety policy regarding injury, illness, and inclement weather?
• Does the coach have your emergency contact information?
• Do you have contact information for the coach?
• Is there a first-aid kit always on hand?
• Is there available water, hydration at all game & practices?
• Is there a scheduled warm-up and cool down at games and practices?
• Does your child receive guidelines and recommendations about proper safety equipment?                                                                                                                
• Is safety equipment required for play?
• Are children allowed adequate rest between games and practices?
• Is sportsmanship, and fair play a core value of the program and the coach?

 Unfortunately, tragic accidents can  happen on the playing field.   Children have the potential for suffering many kinds of  serious injuries while playing sports including: broken bones, concussion, trauma, torn ligaments, sprains and strains, eye injuries and more. If you are unsure  about answers to even one of these questions, make a point to find out. It’s in your children best interest and safety that you do.  The Dodson Law Firm protects the interests of families every day.  For a free consultation with our Florida Personal Injury lawyers contact our office @ 1-888-340-0840.

 A child injury prevention fair is being held at Lee Memorial Hospital in Ft. Myers, this Saturday, January 23rd.   The Emergency and Trauma Services wing at Lee Memorial will be working in conjunction with The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida to provide activities and information to educate families on how to avoid childhood accidents. 

Some of the areas to be discussed include how to prevent child injuries such as fall accidents, child burn injury and car accident injury.  Healthy snacks will also be available. 

 Michele King, director of the Child Advocacy Program at The Children’s Hospital stated. “There will be so much good information for parents and kids.  It is very interactive.”

 To find out more information on the event, please contact Karen Krieger, Director of Public Affairs at 239-454-8765.

Athletics, for many children growing up, is a rite of passage.  For middle school  and high school student athletes, sports offers competition as well as opportunity.  But there can be risks, as well.  Many parents, as their children  become involved in competitive sports, share concerns about head injuries.

Fortunately, basic guidelines for recognizing minor concussions in scholastic sports have been developed. An understanding of these can prevent more serious injuries and consequences. Neurologists and neuropsychologists have recognized that the length of loss of consciousness is somewhat related to the severity of injury. The amount of time an adult or child fails to recall before the trauma  and the period of time not recalled following the trauma  are also somewhat related to the extent of injury.

 According to the CDC, a concussion is a brain injury that can be brought on by a bump, blow or jolt to the head and although not all bumps to the head involve a brain injury, concussions should never be taken lightly. They can show up right after an injury or take days or weeks to emerge.   Parents, student athletes and  coaches should exercise great caution, as the long term effects  of multiple concussions can be severe.

Additional resources:

ImPACT, a neuro-cognitive test  -A 20-minute computerized examination that  judges reaction time, memory and attention span through a progression of mental challenges.

www.AAN.COM- The American Academy of Neurology

In the event of an injury to your son or daughter, you experience doubts and a sense of anxiety about  your child.  In a great article from WHYY news it states: “In the aftermath of a child’s injury, parents often struggle with pain of their own.”

The article explains a new study from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and examines how parents cope psychologically after a child is injured.

According to the study, “Doctors at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital found that one month after a child’s injury, 37 percent of parents experienced symptoms of traumatic stress including high levels of anxiety.”

In the event of an injury to your child, you may experience these same kinds of symptoms.  We have found an excellent website to help parents deal with the trauma after an accident or injury. AfterTheInjury is a great website with alot of resources.