South Florida Personal Injury Blog

Now that the summer heat is upon us, Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney Andrew Alitowski would like to remind local residents to take care with their swimming pools. Swimming in the backyard on a hot summer day is the perfect way to cool off and most of us have fond childhood memories of splashing around with pool toys, but the dangers of swimming pools should not be overlooked. Whether in your own backyard, in a condominium complex, at a friend’s home or at a fitness center, the importance of pool safety for children should be given prime consideration.

Swimming pool accidents can kill children, especially very young children, and inflict extremely serious injuries on those who survive. New federal legislation requires that swimming pools be properly fitted with appropriate drain covers to prevent injuries to children. The state of Florida requires that homes with small children meet specific barrier requirements to prevent children from accessing the family’s swimming pool when they are not properly supervised.

If you have a pool, follow basic safety guidelines. Post a sign if the water is too shallow for diving. Always keep a medical kit and important lifesaving equipment, like flotation devices, very near to the pool. If you have children, instill in them appropriate swimming pool behavior, like limiting running around the wet edges. A child who slips and sustains an injury could fall into the pull, but be unable to remain afloat. Make sure everyone leaves the water if there is lightning in the vicinity. Additionally, pool owners should take care to keep their pool disease-free. Only babies wearing diapers specially designed for swimming should be allowed in the water. Refrain from swimming while an open wound heals. And very importantly, closely monitor the levels of chemicals in the swimming pool water, following instructions whenever using them. Store the pool chemicals in a safe, cool place which is inaccessible to children and where they will not be at risk of contact with heat, fire, or contaminants.

A swimming pool injury to you or to your children can be frightening and very expensive. If you have been injured in a pool, contact Fort Lauderdale injury lawyer Andrew Alitowski as soon as possible for legal assistance. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you obtain the insurance information for a homeowner’s pool or one belonging to a business or organization. Medical bills for an injury can be overwhelming and having an attorney provide assistance can make the process go much more smoothly. The faster an insurance company is willing to pay for medical claims, the easier the process is on the person who was injured.

Continue reading "Swimming Pool Accidents in Florida – Prepare for Summer" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Swimming Pool Injuries

Bookmark:

West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys Andrew Alitowski and William Moore advise all pool operators – even homeowners with small backyard swimming pools – to heed new federal swimming pool safety guidelines. Swimming pool drain cover advocates say that old-fashioned pool drains are faulty. The suction can trap children, who cannot escape and often drown in those circumstances. Swimming pool injuries caused by the lack of drain covers can cause horrifying and often fatal injuries to children, including disembowelment. When that occurs, the strong suction from the drain literally pulls out part of the child’s intestines. In other cases, children who are rescued from the swimming pool will have permanent scarring, paralysis, and other injuries.

Palm Beach accident attorney Andrew Alitowski advises parents that supervising their children playing at a pool – while important -- is not sufficient to prevent the devastating injuries caused by pool drains. Instead, parents should verify with the operators of the pool, perhaps the condominium association or park authorities, that the drains are properly covered and in compliance with the new federal law. If the pool drains are not in compliance, it is not safe for your children to swim. Have your home swimming pools fitted with the new drain covers before allowing your children in the pool to cool off when the weather heats up in the coming months.

Florida already has more small children drown each year than any other state, as well as a very high number of swimming pools due to the warm winters and hot summers. Parents in the West Palm Beach area should take care to protect their children from this particular harm.

See the new drain covers in a CNN report here:

The federal drain legislation went into effect on December 19, but some states are not adequately enforcing the law yet. The law was enacted in response to the deaths of a number of children, notably 7-year-old Virginia Graeme Baker, who was killed when she was trapped on the drain of a hot tub at a graduation party in 2002. Baker’s twin sister rushed to get their mother, who was only able to pull Baker out with the assistance of two other adults. The girls’ mother describes her deceased daughter as having been “essentially cemented” to the bottom of the hot tub. Baker was the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. Her mother began a crusade to prevent other needless deaths, which has culminated in the new federal swimming pool drain legislation.

Continue reading "Palm Beach Injury Lawyer – Swimming Pool Accident Prevention" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Swimming Pool Injuries

Bookmark:

Miami-Dade personal injury lawyer Andrew Alitowski believes that injuries to children are among the most tragic. Summertime swimming pool injuries, injuries involving dog bites, and injuries stemming from poorly supervised construction equipment are some that commonly affect children. In South Florida, businesses and property owners must guard against injuries to small children. Sadly, many children in the Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach area suffer highly preventable injuries. Miami accident attorney Andrew Alitowski encourages all property owners to take precautions to protect children.

In Florida, an attractive nuisance is a hazardous or dangerous condition that is likely to attract small children who cannot appreciate the risk posed by it. For instance, a swimming pool without a fence to keep children out could look very interesting to a five-year-old playing next door, but it is also extremely dangerous for a child so young to go swimming by herself. Likewise, construction equipment left outside of a residential building site could easily attract neighborhood children after the construction workers have gone home. Although abandoned tractors and mud might be something most adults would avoid, the scene could appear much more fun to kids.

Under Florida law, children under the age of six are never partially liable for their own actions. A child so young cannot be negligent because she cannot appreciate the seriousness of jumping into a swimming pool or investigating a construction site. Therefore, when a homeowner, landowner, or business creates an attractive nuisance, they will be liable for the child’s injuries arising out of it. This is true even when the accident is foreseeable but the extent of the injury is not.

Children at least six years of age can be contribute to their own injuries because they are old enough to appreciate some risks. How much a judgment is likely to be reduced depends on a number of factors, including the child’s age and maturity, as well as the egregiousness of the defendant’s actions. Those factors are evaluated by a judge or jury to make a determination of the percentage the child and the property owner are each at fault.

Sadly, Florida has more small children drown in swimming pools each year than any other state. Although the balmy climate probably means that there are substantially more swimming pools in Florida than in most other states, the statistic is still startling. Homeowners should erect fencing and follow all recommended safety precautions. Property owners must take steps to reduce the risk of harm to young children when there are dangerous conditions on their property that they know or should know would attract children.

Generally, when a child receives a settlement from an attractive nuisance claim, the funds will stay in trust for the child. If the settlement is in excess of $5,000, a circuit judge must personally approve it; for smaller amounts, the parents or guardians of the child may approve it. The funds to be used for the benefit of the child.

Continue reading "Miami Personal Injury Attorney on Child Injuries & Attractive Nuisance Law" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Swimming Pool Injuries

Bookmark: