Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”
The summer season brings with it plenty of fun activities, including swimming and boating. When the temperatures are high, pools, water parks, and lakes provide a much-needed respite from the heat. Unfortunately, water activities can be dangerous. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are almost 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths in the United States each year. That equates to about 11 deaths every day. If a loved one was a drowning victim due to someone’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. It is essential to take water safety seriously to prevent injuries and fatalities.
How Drowning Happens
Drowning occurs when someone is not able to breathe air. When water gets into the lungs, the body can no longer take in air. A child can drown in as little time as a minute. There are five main types of drowning:
- Near drowning
- Dry drowning or secondary drowning
- Salt water drowning
- Fresh water drowning
Near drowning happens when someone almost drowns but is saved. Often, a near drowning victim must be given CPR to survive. Dry drowning or secondary drowning happens when someone who inhaled water or nearly drowned is later unable to breathe. The body may have a spasm of the larynx that cuts off the ability to breathe.
Drowning Facts
A person can drown in just a few minutes. Drowning is often silent, and when a person is struggling in the water they may be unable to call out for help. Most drowning deaths occur to children, although adults are also sometimes the victim of drowning. Other than birth defects, drowning is the number one cause of death in young children, ages 1 through 4. For every child who drowns, another four are treated for near-drowning. Drowning is the leading cause of death for those with autism.
Drowning Prevention
There are a variety of things people can do to help prevent drownings. Some of the critical areas of prevention include:
- Close supervision is the single most important way to prevent drowning. Parents must always watch children when they swim, even if the child knows how to swim.
- Teach children basic swimming skills. When children know how to swim or stay afloat they can more easily save themselves if they get into trouble in the water.
- Wear life vests when boating or near open water. A life vest will keep your head above the water. A life vest must fit properly in order to work correctly. A life vest that is not on the body will not do any good in the event a boat capsizes.
- Never swim alone. Always use the buddy system to make sure that everyone is accounted for when on or near water.
- Keep family pools secure with fences and alarms. Do not allow neighbors to swim unless you are home and supervising the activities. Keep the ladder away from above ground pools to prevent people from getting into the pool without supervision.
- Do not consume alcohol when you or your family are swimming. You will be unable to provide proper supervision or offer fast response if you are impaired.
- Learn CPR. When CPR is started immediately, the chances of survival are much higher. If you have kids, make sure you learn CPR for infants and children.
Negligence in Drownings
There are times when a drowning is caused by the negligence of someone else. Negligence means that the person did something or failed to do something that caused harm to another. A drowning or near drowning could be caused by another party’s negligent actions. If that is the case, a victim or their family could be owed money for damages. If a loved one drowned or suffered a near drowning due to someone’s negligence, call us today. Contact Arnold & Smith, PLLC at (704) 370-2828 to discuss the details with a free initial consultation.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.webmd.com/children/features/secondary-drowning-dry-drowning
Image Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_bulldog_in_life_jacket.jpg
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