It’s Fun Until Someone Gets Hurt: Trampolines and Injured Children

Maryland Trampoline Injury Attorney

It sure looks fun, and who doesn’t want to fly through the air? Trampolines have an irresistible pull on many children; and often Maryland parents buy them because they don’t think they’re that dangerous and, besides, it will keep the kids occupied. Very often trampolines are dangerous and can result in injured kids’ needing emergency surgeries. A nine-year-old was seriously injured at a trampoline park in Hagerstown in March, reports the Herald Mail. The child was flown from the site to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A 3-year-old Florida boy was put in a cast from the waist down in July after suffering an injury at a trampoline park in Tampa, according to the Associated Press. The park promoted trampoline use by toddlers, though medical experts say that users shouldn’t be that young. The child broke his thigh bone, which may have been caused by repetitive pressure from jumping on the trampoline. The cast is expected to be on for six weeks. Older kids can get hurt, too. An 18-year-old Florida resident suffered a broken neck after playing dodge ball at a trampoline park in December. He was transported to a Pensacola hospital where it was found two[…..]

Who’s Driving the Bus?

Maryland Drivers Are Ignoring School Bus Safety

On November 1, 2016, Southwest Baltimore was the site of a deadly school bus crash. After that crash, federal investigators decided that an audit of how the city screens school bus drivers was needed. The call for an audit occurred in April, 2017. But as of July, 2017, that audit has not even started, according to state and city education professionals. However, bids from auditors will be requested, said the state’s Department of Education spokesman, William Reinhard, now that the school district has said they will pay for the audit. Investigators have described the need for the audit as “urgent.” It was one of several safety recommendations that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) requested after the crash. What Happened in the Crash? Glenn Chappell, the 67-year-old school bus driver, first rear-ended a Ford Mustang. After that, he veered into oncoming traffic, striking a Maryland Transit Administration bus. In that Nov. 1, 2016, crash, Chappell and five people on the MTA bus were killed. Fortunately, no students were riding the school bus at the time. Chappell had been in five previous school bus crashes between 2011 and 2015. During at least two of them, he had passed out. Chappell was[…..]

Psychological Issues Arising from Cerebral Palsy

Maryland Child Injury Attorney

Cerebral palsy, or CP, arises from some type of brain injury or malformation that can occur either while in the womb, during birth, or after birth. CP actually describes a group of disorders that impair movement control, known as “palsies.” CP is a not-uncommon childhood chronic disability that develops by the age of two or three. The difficulties of dealing with a permanently disabled child can be almost unsurmountable for any parent. But problems with CP don’t stop with the physical aspects; CP can also affect mood and behavior. Frustrations and Challenges Kids are kids. They want to play, enjoy fun times with friends, and fit in with their peers. But the daily challenges and frustrations of living with CP can upset children and make day-to-day living hard for everyone in the family. Some of the reasons are internal to the CP child, and some involve the greater society in which they live: Children with CP can have brain damage that affects the pathways and neural networks carrying emotional messages. These networks can be damaged or disrupted in ways that interfere with a healthy regulation of emotions. Physical problems can mean a manifestation of emotional issues. Think about it—if you[…..]

A Do-Over to Prevent Tip-Overs

Furniture Tip Over

You may have read about IKEA offering free wall-anchoring repair kits for their chests and dressers after two children died. In all, IKEA recalled about 27 million items. The fact is, every 24 minutes a tip-over accident involving a TV or other furniture injures a child in the U.S. That’s one child dying every two weeks from a tip-over tragedy. Because of this problem, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has started the Anchor It! campaign in order to educate parents and other caregivers about the dangers of tip-overs and how to prevent tip-over tragedies. A Significant Problem IKEA isn’t the only manufacturer selling furniture that could tip over and injure or kill a child. Another 2015 recall includes Pali. For those who buy in the secondhand market, older recalls include: Million Dollar Baby (Bexco) Natart Chelsea Guidecraft Ameriwood (sold by Walmart). If you own any furniture by these manufacturers or sellers, we urge you to investigate further and to secure your furniture before heartbreak occurs. Wider Problems But there are bigger problems than furniture alone. Tip-overs are not limited to dressers and bookcases: 65 percent of fatalities involved large-screen TVs. When a TV falls, the force exerted can[…..]

Liquid Nicotine — A Little Can Be Lethal

Liquid Nicotine

Would you leave a bottle of bleach within the reach of a toddler? Parents know to store household chemicals behind locked cabinet doors or on a high shelf, aware and wary of accidental poisonings that befall curious children. And yet, too many parents are leaving containers of significantly more toxic and enticing liquids where children can get their hands on them. Bearing pictures of candy canes, juicy fruits and sweets, and lacking childproof caps, bottles of liquid nicotine for refilling e-cigarettes are fatal temptations. Comparing the toxicity of liquid nicotine and bleach, Henry Spiller, Director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, asked, “Would we be concerned if a child drank an entire bottle of bleach? Concerned yes, corrosive elements yes, but fatal? Highly unlikely. A child would not voluntarily drink even 8 ounces of household bleach because of the smell and taste and large amount they would need to drink to prove lethal. In comparison, a child could easily consume even a teaspoon of liquid nicotine and have it prove fatal.” In December 2014, a one-year-old in upstate New York died after ingesting liquid nicotine at his home. He was found unresponsive and rushed to a[…..]