Swimming Pool Accidents Archives - San Fernando Valley Personal Injury Blog

Protecting Yourself and Others In and Around Your Pool

The summer recreation season is fast approaching and for many families that means lots of activity around the swimming pool. Southern California may well be the swimming pool capitol of the world with almost 100,000 backyard pools in the San Fernando Valley alone.

Swimming pools are great for relaxing during the hot summer months. Entertaining family and friends with barbecues, birthday parties, or just an afternoon of swimming can be great fun for everyone. But water safety should always be at the top of your priority list when hosting or attending a gathering around a swimming pool.

Swimming Pool Injuries Are All Too Common

Each year thousands are injured or killed in swimming pool accidents. If you own a swimming pool and have children or entertain friends, you should take every precaution to make sure they are safe and protected while on your property. First, this means having the right insurance coverage at a sufficient level in the event that someone outside of your immediate family is injured.

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What You Should Know About Your Legal Rights

Being injured on someone else’s property can involve a wide range of circumstances, such as being introduced to a dangerous condition or situation, a slip and fall, or even an animal attack. It’s important to understand your rights under the law should one of these incidents arise.

What constitutes a dangerous condition or situation? Dog bites, slippery floors, objects falling on you, defective handrails, poorly lit walkways, or any number of other possibilities. In any case, you need to be aware that the owner of the property is usually responsible in the event that something happens to you as a result of one or more of these dangerous conditions. Filing suit, however, is not always a clean-cut issue.

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You’ve Been Injured. What Next?

Personal injury cases are based on the premise that someone was injured by the act of another person or entity. If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, you should seek out a top personal injury attorney who can fight for you and your rights. Since these cases are not necessarily clear cut, it is rarely advisable for you to go this alone.

When pursuing your personal injury case, the first thing on your list should be finding a good attorney. Even after you have narrowed down your choices, you still need to do a little research in order to make sure that he or she will be the right fit for you. This means looking for reviews from other clients, complaints, and even pending lawsuits that may have been filed. The Better Business Bureau is a great place to find this kind of information.

The Face to Face Meeting

You will next want to set a meeting with your attorney. Here, you will discuss the details of your case to determine if you do, in fact, have a viable claim. This is when your attorney will instruct you on what can be expected through each step of the process. This is also the time that your attorney will instruct you as to what will be expected of you. This will include any information you may have, the facts of your case, contacts who can help to verify your case, and any other information pertinent to your claim. The defendant’s attorney will also be contacting your attorney to swap information material to the case.

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I Resolve to …

New Year’s resolutions. Many of us make them, but not many of us manage to keep them. They generally have to do with things we feel, if accomplished, would make us a better, or healthier, or more prosperous person. We resolve to lose weight, or stop smoking, or to start working out or running, or to simply try to be a nicer human being.

These are all laudable and worthwhile objectives, and we encourage everyone to do your best to achieve whatever goals you’ve resolved to reach in 2012. But, we have a couple of items we’d like to suggest that you add to your list. They’re not traditional New Year’s resolutions, but we think they would be worth your time and effort, and might save you, or a loved one, or even a total stranger from harm and/or liability in the coming months and years.

Make a List … or Several

• Have all your vehicles checked thoroughly for potential safety issues. This means your cars, motorcycles, motor homes, watercraft, camping trailers, bicycles, even your skateboard. Check them all to be sure that wheels, brakes, lights – anything that could cause an accident, should it malfunction – are in good working order.

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Ensure Your Best Possible Recovery ~

It can certainly be a life-altering event, and the first thing you should know about spinal cord injury is that it does not always present symptoms immediately after sustaining damage. If you suffer a head, neck, or back injury, even if you feel that it’s minor, get the opinion of a qualified health care professional immediately. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury, you should know what steps to take to ensure that you’ll receive the best medical care and rehabilitation efforts.

All brain injuries and injuries to the spinal cord are potentially dangerous. They can cause excruciating pain, take away your freedom of movement, speech, or hearing, and can even result in death. If you suffer an injury to the spinal cord due to an accident, on the job or elsewhere, you’ll not only need excellent medical attention but also the counsel of a skilled personal injury attorney. More often than not, there will be an intimidating maze of legalities that must be dealt with before you can get on with treatment and recovery.

Things to Keep in Mind

After you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, take the following steps to ensure that you won’t be left without help and without the means to ensure your best possible recovery.

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Accidental drownings claim nearly 3,500 lives per year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thousands of others require hospital treatment for non-fatal injuries, which can cause permanent brain damage and other lifelong consequences. Children ages one to four are most likely to suffer a drowning-related injury or death, and drowning is the second leading cause of death for children between one and 14-years-old.

In order to help swimming pool owners prevent drownings and other California swimming pool accident related injuries, the CDC provides the following tips for swimming pool safety, including:

Keep the pool deck clear of toys, puddles of water, and other hazards in order to prevent slip-and-fall injuries.

Supervise children using the pool. Preschool children should be within arm’s reach of a responsible adult at all times. The adult supervising the pool should give swimmers their undivided attention.

Teach children to swim. Learning to swim is one of the best ways children can help protect themselves. Until a child can swim well, however, they should always use a personal flotation device (PFD) while in the water. Inflatable pool toys should never be substituted for a PFD.

Use four-sided fencing around the pool. The pool should be fully enclosed by fencing at least four feet high. Gates should open outwards, and should be self-latching, with the latch kept out of a child’s reach.

Swimming pool accident injuries can have devastating or even fatal results. If you or your child has been injured in a swimming pool, the experienced San Fernando Valley swimming pool accident lawyers at The Mandell Law Firm may be able to help. We can look into your accident to determine whether a swimming pool owner acted negligently. To learn more about your legal rights, call us today at 818-866-6600 for a free and confidential consultation.