Articles Posted in Injuries to Minors and Children

Campuses are meant to be places to learn, grow, and develop skills for an entire future. Unfortunately, schools and campuses are also the site of many accidents and serious injuries. Each year, traffic accidents in Hollywood and other communities occur on school properties. Sports injuries and violence also cause many serious child injuries in Hollywood each year on school campuses. As a parent, how can you keep your child safe?

There are many things that families can do, according to safety experts:

1) Hold schools to a higher standard of safety. Schools should have written policies about safety in schools and these policies should be clear and thorough. Schools should also take steps to prevent serious injury with proper precautions. This may mean providing a well-lit campus or supervision to keep the property safe or providing special safety gear for specific sports and lab activities. When schools are negligent and injury occurs, it is important that injured parties hold schools accountable with premises liability claims in Hollywood or other legal remedies to ensure that schools take safety seriously.

2) Be proactive in teaching your child about safety. Whether your child is just entering school or is away at college, make sure that they understand what they need to do to stay safer. For a smaller child, this may mean teaching them about crossing a street safely. For a college student, that may mean alerting them about their school’s walk home safe program.

3) Treat any injuries seriously. If your child is injured at school, make sure that you get answers and a thorough investigation into what has happened. If you believe that the school was negligent and this recklessness led to your child’s injuries, contact a personal injury attorney in Hollywood or your community to get legal advice.

4) Look out for signs of bullying or harassment. Unfortunately, violence is a cause of some school injuries and it is a preventable problem. If you notice that a younger child is being bullied, get the school to take action. If a college-aged student is getting unwanted attention from another student, keep in mind that the school has a responsibility to keep the student safe. Ask lots of questions and encourage the school to take specific steps to prevent further violence and abuse.

5) Consider where your child may be injured – and take steps to prevent injury. Certain classes and certain after-school activities are especially likely to lead to injury. Science labs, cooking classes, and contact sports, for example, all have a higher risk of injury. Make sure that your child is given safety instructions to stay safe.

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Children’s toys are supposed to stimulate the imagination and help children have fun. Even though the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates and monitors the toys allowed in the country, however, toy-related child injuries in Homestead occur each year. Each year, children suffer burns, head injuries, choking, and other injuries due to unsafe toys and each year toys are recalled and are the subject of product liability cases in Homestead and other communities because they have caused injuries.

How can you ensure that your child’s toys are safe? Experts recommend a few tips:

1) Know how to buy safe toys. Look for toys that are age-appropriate and be a pro-active shopper. Ask questions and look for safety ratings online. If you notice that a toy seems very loud, has sharp corners, or seems poorly made, try another toy. Many parents opt for domestically-made toys made from materials that are purchased in the United States because they are concerned about lead paint.

2) Stay on top of recalls. Check the product number on all new toys you buy and visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) website regularly to make sure that your child’s toys are not affected. If one of your child’s toys is affected by a recall, take the item away at once and follow the proper steps provided by the manufacturer as part of the recall.

3) Store toys safely. Storing toys on shelves can cause children to pull toys down on themselves and toy boxes with lids pose a head injury risk. If your child’s toys are kept in a box, make sure that the box has no lid or has a lid that does not slam down.

4) Check toys carefully for signs of wear and tear. Magnetic toys and toys with electronic parts are especially subject to wear and tear, but any toys that break down can pose a hazard. Once a toy starts to show signs of wear and tear, replace it.

5) Clean toys often. Smaller children, especially, will put toys in their mouth and can get sick if the toys are not kept clean.

6) Always keep your child’s age in mind when buying toys. A toy that is perfectly safe for an older child can pose a choking risk for a younger child. If you have several children in your household, you may need careful supervision to ensure that younger children are not playing with toys meant for older children.

7) Look for labels that indicate the toys are safe. Paints and crayons should be labeled as “non-toxic” and as “ASTM D-4236”, which shows that the American Society for Testing and Materials has evaluated them. Soft fabric toys should be washable and should be labeled as non-flammable.

8) Be wary of older toys. Used toys can be affordable, but they may have been part of a recall or may have been used enough that they are no longer safe. Keep older toys as collectibles if they have sentimental value, but for everyday play choose more recent toys.

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According to a research study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (and published in journalPediatrics), between 2002 and 2011 the yearly number of children treated on an outpatient basis in hospital rose from 228 to 438 and children admitted to the hospital due to severe injury increased from 26 to 48. Anecdotal evidence suggests that other hospitals across the country and in Florida are also seeing an increase in the number of child and teenage patients.

Researchers are not sure whether there are more head injuries occurring or whether there is more awareness and caution when it comes to head injuries. It is true that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sports associations, and pediatricians have been paying closer attention to sports injuries in recent years and awareness about the dangers of head injuries has increased.

Researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center say that more research is needed about childhood brain injuries and more laws are needed to prevent serious injury. Researchers would like to see more helmet laws that would require helmet use during skiing, snowboarding, cycling, and other risky sports. Most of the people injured in the study were playing football or basketball when they suffered their injury. Between 2002 and 2011, researchers noted, the average severity of injuries dropped, which made researchers hopeful that parents and school staff were getting the message about the dangers of head injuries.

According to safety experts, there are several things that parents can do to prevent serious head injuries and child injuries in Homestead or their communities:

1) Choose sports programs carefully. Sports injuries in Homestead and across the country are a leading cause of head injuries, fractures, and other injuries. While there is no reason to avoid sports entirely, make sure your child is enrolled in a reputable sports program with a good coach and encourage your child to work on conditioning and build up to more demanding activities within sports.

2) Encourage your children to think safety first. If safety equipment is required for the sport, your child should wear the equipment each time they play – even during practice. Teach your child how to stay safe in the sport.

3) Do respond cautiously to head injuries. If your child does sustain a head injury or spinal cord injury in Homestead or another community, get medical advice right away. Take your child out of the sport until a doctor determines that it is safe to return. Even minor concussions can become serious if your child sustains a second head injury before healing fully.

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Child injuries in Hollywood and other communities are common among athletes. If your child plays a sport in school, he or she may be at risk of head injuries, soft tissue injuries, fractures, and other injuries. Sports injuries are getting more attention across Florida – and not just at the professional athlete level. Many people are now recognizing that child injuries related to sports can lead to a lifetime of injury and long-term consequences.

While playing a sport can help teach discipline, teamwork, leadership, and other valuable life skills, every parent of course wants to ensure that their child stays safe while playing a sport. If your child plays a sport at school or during an afterschool activity, make sure that you:

1) Ensure that your child uses correct safety gear at each game and practice as needed. Proper safety gear – such as helmets in contact ports – can help prevent serious injury and can even save a child’s life. Since many injuries occur at practices and not just games, your child should wear the correct safety gear every time he or she plays the sport, even if they are just practicing.

2) Help your child condition their body and avoid exceeding capabilities. If your child is flexible and strong, he or she is more likely to avoid injuries. It is also important that your child avoids exceeding their abilities and gradually builds confidence as well as expertise before trying a more demanding level of play. Proceeding too quickly can lead to fractures, sprains, and other injuries.

3) Teach your child to pay attention to sport-specific risks. Each sport has its own specific risks. Contact sports such as football, for example, have a higher risk of fractures, head injuries, soft tissue injuries, and back injuries. Sports such as basketball can pose a tripping risk. Understand what risks your child can experience with their sport and teach your child how to recognize and avoid those risks.

4) Instruct your child to warm up and cool down before each game and practice. Warming up and cooling down correctly can help prevent strained muscles as well as other injuries.

5) Look out for recurring injuries. If your child has been injured, it is important that he or she takes time away from play until they are completely healed. If they fail to do so, they could be at risk of a recurring injury. Head injury patients in Hollywood and other communities, for example, may sustain even more serious and dangerous injuries if they return to their sport too quickly after an injury – and secondary head injuries sustained before a first injury has healed can be very dangerous.

6) Place your child so that he or she trains in safe conditions. You can avoid child injuries by making sure that your child is correctly supervised and plays on a safe surface and with correct equipment and space. Speak to the coach or person in charge of training at your school or your child’s afterschool activity to ensure that safety is a concern for the program.

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Students spend about 12 years of their life in school, spending about a quarter of their time in school. Laws and courts have determined that schools have an implicit duty of care to the children they teach, and this care covers the time that children spend on school property and in the care of school authorities (on field trips and other school activities away from school grounds).

Nothing is more upsetting to a parent than the idea that their child may be injured while at school. Yet, each year children sustain serious head injuries in Homestead and other communities as well as fractures, eye injuries and countless other injuries. These injuries occur due to sports-related injuries, violence and bullying, slip and fall accidents in Homestead, and many other causes.

If your child is injured at school or during a school-related activity, you will want to get answers about what has happened. You will want to meet with school authorities to review the incident and to find out what occurred and what steps are being taken to prevent further injury.

In addition to speaking with a school, parents should speak with their doctors about the injury. Not only is it important to get documentation about the injury, but in some cases a seemingly small injury can turn out to be much more serious than initially thought. A soft tissue injury, for example, may turn out to be painful for the child for months.

In some cases, schools are reluctant to provide specific information about an incident because they fear legal action or are not sure what led to an injury. In many situations like these, parents decide to turn to a personal injury attorney in Homestead or their community to act as an advocate and to get answers. A personal injury lawyer can investigate the situation and can give parents legal advice about their options. In cases where negligence was a factor, parents may choose to pursue a personal injury claim in Homestead or their community. This can help secure compensation so that parents can pay for:

• Medical costs for their child
• Income replacement
• Tutoring and schooling costs for a child who has lost time at school
Whether or not you have a legal claim will depend on the specifics of the situation. Courts do consider that children sometimes take risks in play and for this, schools are generally not held liable. However, in situations where a school did not provide adequate supervision or otherwise acted in a negligent manner, there may be a case. The best way to determine your options is to speak with a local personal injury attorney who can listen to the specifics of your situation and can help you understand your rights.

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Bullying has been in the news for the past few years, with several high-profile anti-bullying campaigns as well as many tragic stories of children who have lost their lives due to bullying. Unfortunately, bullying continues to be a serious concern for parents and students everywhere. In many cases, these situations can escalate until a child sustains serious injuries, becomes withdrawn, and suffers other ill effects.

Bullying can escalate from name-calling to physical violence and can result in self-harm as well as pushing and shoving that can lead to head injuries in Miami, spinal cord injuries, and other serious injuries. In some cases, the violence escalates to truly frightening level, leading to burn injuries in Miami as well as other serious lifelong injuries.

To prevent bullying, it is first important to discuss school-related issues with your child. Your child needs to know that their school has a no-bullying policy and that you have a similar policy in your home. Be alert to any signs that your child is either being bullied or is participating in violence against another student. Children who are being targeted by other students may become withdrawn, may try to avoid going to school, may get headaches or stomach aches, and may experience personality changes. Students who are bullying other students may be harder to detect. They may be spending time with a new group of students or maybe showing other signs of personality changes.

It can be hard to detect bullying. In many cases, victims are embarrassed and are afraid to come forward because they fear retaliation and an escalation of violence. Sometimes, students who are harassed by others may simply feel that there is nothing that can be done. It is important for parents to watch for unexplained injuries, sudden solitude, weight loss, sleeping habit changes, and a drop in grades. Even if the problem is not bullying, these symptoms may suggest that something else is amiss.

If you suspect that your child is being harassed by other students or injured by other students, speak with the principal and the administrators of the school. Schools have a responsibility to help prevent injuries to minors and children in Miami and other communities. If the school is not supportive in helping you prevent violence against your child, you may be able to take legal action if your child continues to be injured and harassed.

If your child is seriously injured, it is important to speak with a personal injury attorney in Miami as well as the police and the parents of the other children who were involved. In these cases, it is important to get to the bottom of the matter before injuries and the level of violence escalates. In some cases, you may have a legal claim, which can help pay for your child’s medical care, counseling, and for other resources that can help your child.

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Child injuries in Homestead and other Florida cities are every parent’s nightmare. Unfortunately, each year children are seriously injured and even killed due to the negligence and wrongful acts of caregivers. It is important for parents to be aware of the safety of their children when children are placed in daycare, the care of a babysitter, or with any caregiver. To prevent serious injuries, parents need to:

1) Start planning ahead and asking lots of questions. If you need help finding care for your child, you can contact Child Care Aware (1-800-424-2246 or http://childcareaware.org) for information about Florida options and recommended services. You may also want to ask your employer, family and friends, and others you know for their recommendations. Start planning child care well in advance, as it takes time to find someone who is qualified.

2) Do research if hiring a nanny, au pair, or babysitter. Your child could easily sustain a head injury in Homestead or your community if a nanny or caregiver is negligent. Look for someone with experience and excellent recommendations. Ideally, look for someone who has taken first aid and other safety courses. Check references carefully. If your caregiver will be driving your child anywhere, check that their driving record does not include drunk driving accidents in Homestead or your community as well as other types of traffic accidents.

3) Avoid assuming that a family member or family friend is a safer babysitter. If a family member is resentful of always having to babysit or is not checked, they could just as easily fail to supervise your child, leading to a slip and fall injury in Homestead or another type of injury. Check family member’s qualifications as carefully as you would a stranger’s and consider paying a family member for the care they offer. Pay can help enforce that the position of caring for your children is a serious one requiring their full attention.

4) Research any daycare or childcare center. Visit the daycare and ask plenty of questions. What are the safety processes in place? How are employees screened? Look for a licensed and registered daycare of child care home with plenty of good recommendations. Also, look for a place where the child to adult ratio is small. Too many children and too few adults can mean inadequate supervision.

Once you have hired a caregiver or have made arrangements for child care, make unscheduled visits to see how your child is doing. Is the care meeting your expectations? Continue to check occasionally to ensure that your child is getting the standard of care you deserve.

Even if you are very cautious about your child’s welfare, you still need to be vigilant. Look for signs of abuse or injury. If your child has bruises or other signs of unexplained injury of if your child is suddenly withdrawn or starts acting unusually, seek answers. Take your child to the doctor.

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Now that summer is drawing to a close and everyone in thinking about back to school, it is time to think about safety. The fall season can increase the risk of child injuries in Hollywood and other communities, since a break in routine and new activities can mean new risks. If you have children, there are several precautions you will want to take to prevent serious injury:

1) Consider your child’s route to and from school. Car accidents and pedestrian accidents in Hollywood and other communities are a leading cause of child injury and fatalities. Pedestrian and traffic accidents are especially a risk during the morning rush hour. Whether your child walks to school, gets dropped off, or bicycles, it is time to consider the safest route to school.

2) Review sports and after-school activities. If your child plays contact sports, your child may be at risk of head injuries. Ensure your child has a proper helmet and other safety equipment. Make sure that coaches know to remove your child after every potential head injury and to avoid having your child resume play until the head injury has been checked by a doctor. For too many head injury patients in Hollywood and other communities, sports and other activities are resumed too quickly and this can result in severe and even permanent injury. Even if your child does not play contact sports, review your child’ activities and make sure that proper safety procedures are in place.

3) Ensure your child has a mobile device and a way to reach you. Make sure that every caregiver has your most recent contact information. At the same time, teach your child to avoid using their mobile device when walking to school and bicycling. Pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents in Hollywood and Florida often happen when walkers and cyclists are distracted.

4) Make sure your child’s school has safety programs and plans in place. Ask about written safety policies and review them. Encourage your child’s school to host safety programs and activities. Many local fire stations and police stations have special school programs that promote safety and teach children basic skills about preventing injury and crime.

5) Check the backgrounds of your child’s caregivers. The autumn can mean new babysitters and other caregivers. When hiring someone to look after your child, be sure to check past references and look for clues about capabilities. Where possible, hire someone who has basic first aid training.

While you cannot prevent every child injury, many childhood injuries are preventable. A little precaution and planning at this time of year can help prevent serious injuries during the school term.

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According to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, across the US a child is rushed to hospital every 45 minutes, on average, due to a TV. Dr. Gary Smith, who headed the study, says that younger children are more vulnerable to falling TVs than many people realize – and injuries involving falling TVs can be very serious. The number of such child injuries in Homestead and other US communities may actually be on the rise as the style and number of TVs in homes changes.

Dr. Smith and his research team studied child injuries across the US between 1990 and 2011. They concluded that about 381,000 teenagers and children during that time visited emergency rooms with injuries related to TVs. About 50% of these injuries were related to falling televisions and another 38% of injuries were caused by children and minors running into sets. Another 9% were caused by other incidents, such as injuries caused when a TV was moved. About 64% of the injuries occurred to children under the age of five years old, with two year olds being most affected. Boys were more likely to be injured than girls.

One thing that may surprise parents is the severity of the injuries involved. A falling TV can cause head injuries in Homestead and other communities, as well as fractures, cuts, bruises, soft tissue injuries, and other serious injuries. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 215 children were fatally injured by falling television sets from the year 2000 to 2011 alone.

Another cause of concern is that the number of injuries caused by falling TVs seems to be on the increase. Between 1990 and 2011, the number of TV-related child injuries remained static at about 17,000 annually. However, the number of injuries caused by falling televisions doubled in that time period. Dr. Smith believes that part of the problem may be multiple TVs being brought into the home. When a new flat-screen set is purchased, older TVs are often placed in bedrooms as secondary units. In some cases, these are being placed on furniture that was never intended to bear the weight of a TV. When the units are placed on top of bureaus and other furniture, they pose a serious tip-over risk.

Dr. Smith and other safety experts hope that parents get the message. They believe that more education is needed so that parents understand the risks of falling TVs. In the meantime, they recommend the following safety precautions:

•Never place a TV on a piece of furniture that is not designed for a TV and cannot bear its weight
•Secure all TVs and taller furniture to the walls
•Read and follow instructions and owner manuals when setting up a new TV or item of furniture
•Check TV cords regularly for signs of wear – in addition to injuries caused by falling TVs, burn injuries in Homestead and other communities have been linked to television sets

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According to a new report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, between 2010 and 2011, the number of ATV injuries declined among all riders. However, the same study found that in 2011 alone, 57 children under the age of 16 suffered fatalities due to ATVs. A newer study by Ruth Shults of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the findings. That study suggests that injury rates for ATV accidents involving children have declined since 2004. That year, 67 per 100 000 kids were injured on the vehicles. Since then, injuries have dropped by over one third.

However, in the past ten years the number of children seriously injured while driving ATVs is 360,000 – a number that many safety experts agree is too high. Some safety experts also claim that the new decline in ATV injuries may not have anything to do with safety measures or safety awareness. Instead, the decline may be caused by a sluggish economy. Since fewer people are buying or riding ATVs due to economic concerns, there are fewer accidents and injuries are reported. Similar declines in truck and car accidents in Homestead and other communities have been noted in recent years, for some of the same reasons.

According to the new ATV study, children between the ages 11 and 15 have the highest rate of injuries with ATVs and boys are more likely to be injured than girls. Fractures, cuts, and scrapes are the most common ATV-related injuries for children. However, head injuries in Homestead and other communities are also very common. According to the study, close to 30 percent of ATV child injuries involving children under the age of 6 were to the neck and head area.

Another cause of concern, according to researchers, is that children are more likely to be injured by an ATV than by other types of traffic accidents in Homestead and other communities. About 13% of children involved in ATV accidents needed hospitalization, meaning that children are twice as likely to need hospitalization when injured in an ATV collision when compared with children injured in a car accident.

Shults recommends that parents take extra precautions when it comes to children and ATVs. According to her, parents should:

1.Never allow children to be passengers on ATVs, as the vehicles are only meant to hold one rider
2.Never permit ATVs to be ridden on a paved surface, as this increases the risk of a rollover
3.Supervise children on ATVs carefully
Some emergency room physicians and safety experts recommend that children should not be permitted on the vehicles at all, as collisions and rollovers can lead to permanent spinal cord or brain injury and, in some cases, fatalities.

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