A Slip of Fate: Protect Yourself From Accidental Injury

Unfortunately, accidents are a part of our lives. While everyone likes to think they are invincible, when an accident occurs we are reminded that we are not only human, but subject to injury — sometimes even serious injury.

You slip and fall on a wet floor while walking across the supermarket. The car in front of you brakes suddenly on the highway. You’re jumping on a trampoline and just like that, you are out like a light with a spinal cord injury.

There are various kinds of injuries you can receive as a result of simply living life in a hurry, not paying attention or trusting another person to not be negligent on your behalf. Life is far from perfect.

Severe Injuries that Can Result from Accidents:

• Spinal Cord Injuries – Spinal cord injuries usually begin with a blow that fractures or dislocates your vertebrae, the bone disks that make up your spine. Most injuries don’t sever your spinal cord. Instead, they cause damage when pieces of vertebrae tear into cord tissue or press down on the nerve parts that carry signals. In a complete spinal cord injury, the spinal cord can’t relay messages below the level of the injury. As a result, you are paralyzed below the level of injury. A spinal cord injury is a medical emergency. Immediate treatment can reduce long-term effects.

• Brain Injuries – A concussion of the kind you might experience in a car accident or fall is a type of brain injury. It is a short loss of normal brain function in response to a head injury. After a concussion, you may have a headache or neck pain. You may also experience nausea, ringing in your ears, dizziness, or tiredness. You may feel dazed or not your normal self for several days or weeks after the injury.

• Neck Problems – After a car accident or a fall, it’s not always obvious that you’ve injured your neck because damage to the neck can manifest in other areas of the body, such as your arms and hands. Common symptoms of neck injuries include a pain in your neck, headaches, pain in shoulders, arms or hands, a reduced range of motion in your neck, numbness, weakness and slower reflexes in your arms and hands and muscle spasms in your neck.

Remember to consult a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney if you are involved in an auto accident or a slip and fall accident in South Florida. With your own personal protection held in the highest regard, a personal injury attorney can provide legal protection and get you the money you need to pay for the damages that result from your injury.

Bounce Time Can Lead To Serious Injury

Bounce houses are a great way to entertain kids at parties. They’re inflatable amusement parks, popping up at picnics and fairs and offering hours of fun, right? What could be the harm? There’s no sharp objects, no motors or movable parts to deal with. When you think about it, a bounce house is like one big bed of fluffy pillows — and who doesn’t have fun during a pillow fight?

Well, the thing is, bounce houses are not big beds and even pillow fights can lead to injury. The reality is that the number of serious injuries incurred in bounce houses is on the rise.

Dr. Gary Smith, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, had a hunch that inflatable bounce houses were offering more than hours of fun. He launched the first study to find out how many bouncer-related injuries occurred in the United States, gathering data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which collects patient information for every emergency visit involving an injury associated with consumer products.

What the data revealed was this: The number of inflatable bouncer-related injuries rose 1,500 percent between 1995 and 2010. From 2008 to 2010, the rate of injuries more than doubled. In 2010 alone, 31 children were treated in emergency departments each day on average, according to the report. Arm and leg injuries were the most common. The youngest children, those under 5, were more likely to have fractures, while teenagers were more likely to sustain sprains and strains.

Not surprisingly, the types of injuries sustained from bounce houses are similar to those that occur from trampoline use, but while there are national guidelines in place for trampolines there are none for bounce houses. While some vendors display their safety rules on their websites or at their facilities, it doesn’t necessarily mean these are being followed.

So it’s a probability that you may find the need to contact a Ft. Lauderdale personal injury attorney and pursue a personal injury claim settlement should an accident occur in one of these inflatable devices. If you find that your child has been invited to a party at which a bounce house is the central attraction, be wise and consider Smith’s following tips:

1. Based on developmental abilities, don’t let children under the age of 6 to play in these inflatable devices
2. Only have children of similar age and size play inside these bouncers at one time
3. Horseplay, flips and somersaults should be prohibited
4. Always have an adult present — but not inside with the children — when these devices are in use

The best Ft. Lauderdale personal injury protection is to try to be as safe as possible; but this can’t always be achieved. Your child doesn’t understand the prospects of injury — all they want to do is have fun, just like the other kids. Let them bounce if they want — just make sure you protect them as best you can by knowing the risks.