Drowning Accident Lawyer
On average, nine people drown in the United States each day. More than one in four fatal drowning victims are children under the age of 15. And for every child that dies from drowning, four more receive emergency care for nonfatal submersion injuries. Nonfatal submersion injuries can cause brain injury that may result in learning disabilities, memory problems, and a permanent loss of basic functioning.
Following are some tips to prevent drowning accidents:
- Designate a responsible adult to watch young children swimming, playing in or around water, or while taking a bath. The adult should not be engaged in any distracting activity, such as reading, talking on the phone, or mowing the lawn, while supervising children.
- Swim with a buddy and, if possible, select swimming sites with active duty lifeguards.
- Do not consume alcoholic beverages prior to, or while, swimming, boating, water skiing, or supervising children.
- Learn to swim and enroll children in swimming classes. After a child younger than four years old has learned to swim, however, continue to provide supervision and barriers such as pool fencing at least four feet high with outwardly opening self-closing and self-latching gates.
- Do not leave balls, floats, or other toys in the pool. These may encourage children to approach the pool or lean over the pool to reach them and fall in.
- Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR has been shown to improve outcomes for drowning victims.
- Check the weather forecast for strong winds and/or thunderstorms prior to boating or swimming.
- Understand the meaning of storm warning flags and obey all beach warnings.
- Watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents, such as discolored, foamy, or choppy water, possibly containing debris and forming a channel moving away from shore. If caught in a rip current, do not panic, swim parallel to shore until free of the current, and then swim toward the shore.
- When boating, use U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets regardless of the size of the boat, the swimming ability of the passengers, or the distance to be traveled.
If you or a loved one has suffered a submersion injury, or if your loved one has drowned, there may be factors that contributed to the accident that you may not have considered, such as an inadequate posting of warnings, or a negligent boating crew. Contact a qualified personal injury or wrongful death attorney for an evaluation of your case.
See also:
Swimming pool accidents
Swimming pool diving injuries
Water park accidents
