A 2-year-old is in unknown condition after a drowning incident in El Mirage.
Another 2-year-old child is in stable condition at a local hospital after nearly drowning in a residential pool at a West Valley home.
Peoria police and fire responded at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to a call in the 8600 block of West Bloomfield Road, which is near 87th Avenue and Cactus Road.
The child's parents had already pulled the 2 year old from the pool, started CPR and noticed the child had labored breathing.
The child was inside the home, awake and crying when emergency crews arrived, said Capt. Bob Burkland of the Peoria Fire-Medical Department.
They transported the child in stable condition to Thunderbird Hospital. The pool did not have a fence and it is unknown how the child got outside or how long they were in the water.
The near-drowning is the second incident in less than week in the West Valley.
On Saturday, a 2-year-old boy nearly drowned in a bathtub at an El Mirage home. The boy is on life support at a local hospital, according to El Mirage police.
Authorities do not suspect foul play in that incident, but the investigation is ongoing.
Emergency crews responded to a total of four drowning calls in February 2014. Two incidents were fatal. All four involved boys ages three and under. And all four happened in a pool.
There have been a total of three water-related incidents in Maricopa and Pinal counties reported so far this year.
Although the warm weather should not be close, it will hit 80+ degrees in the valley this week.
365 days a year, we have to think of pool safety in Phoenix. 2 seconds is too long.
For more information on water safety and drowning prevention, visit Children's Safety Zone.
Although as cars are made safer, with such features as back up cameras and/or automatic braking, etc, motor vehicle accidents still occur too often in Arizona. Accidents are not a growing trend.
Accidents have always been an issue since the dawn of the vehicle was invented. The only trend that seems to be occuring is the texting while driving issue.
There are thousands upon thousands a year that can be attributed to texting and driving. Though in many states, it's now illegal to text while driving, some states have no bans. Why? We have no clue.
Car accidents can be very complex. There are many variables that are always involved and can lead to even more complex issues. The best thing you can truly do is atleast get in touch with a car accident attorney and see what your rights are.
It's free. Why wouldn't you want to get answers from a reliable source?
That depends. Would you trust an electrician to perform a complicated plumbing repair, just because he thinks he might be able to do it?
Would you hire your painter to try to fix your furnace? How about asking your family doctor to do a complicated surgery?
The practice of law has become very specialized. It is complicated enough that no lawyer can know it all. Many attorneys think they can handle a personal injury case—seems easy enough---but, can you take that chance?
In truth, the knowledge, resources and skills necessary to represent an injured person or the family of someone deceased take years to develop. A lawyer who handles an occasional personal injury matter simply cannot provide the same expertise as a Phoenix personal injury lawyer who concentrates on handling personal injury cases.
Try this: Close your eyes, open the yellow pages and point. You will probably find a divorce or criminal or bankruptcy attorney who advertises for personal injury too. The perception may be that these cases are easy; the perception is wrong. There are many factors and elements to know and consider, and frankly it is very easy for an attorney who dabbles in this area of the law to make a mistake and lose your case.
Do you want to take this risk? Can you afford to take this chance?
Find an experienced personal injury attorney in Arizona, preferably one that is certified as a specialist by the State Bar of Arizona in Injury and Death cases. It WILL make all the difference in your case.
Speed is involved in about one out of three fatal crashes, according to NHTSA. It is the third leading contributing factor to traffic crashes. But while injuries and fatalities due to other dangerous behaviors such as driving while impaired and not wearing seatbelts have been significantly reduced, speed is still a challenge.
The NHTSA defines a crash as speed-related if a driver is charged with a speed-related offense and/or if an officer indicates that racing, driving too fast for conditions or exceeding the posted speed limit contributed to the crash. Surveys find that although people name “excessive speed” as a threat to their safety, the majority say they also exceed the posted speed limit when driving. There are many reasons why people drive too fast.
According to Focus on Safety: A Practical Guide to Automated Traffic Enforcement, drivers speed because:
They’re in a hurry.
They’re inattentive to their driving.
They don’t take traffic laws seriously; they don’t think the laws apply to them.
They don’t view their driving behavior as dangerous.
They don’t expect to get caught.
Some or all of the above.
Speeding results in:
Lives lost – over 13,000 each year.
Work zone crashes and fatalities – speed was a factor in 27 percent of fatal crashes in construction and maintenance zones.
Unsafe school zones – compliance with lower speed limits is poor.
Economic costs -- speed-related crashes cost society over $40 billion annually, according to NHTSA. Every minute "gained" by speeding to a destination costs U.S. society over $76,000.
Speeding is often one of several risky factors in fatal crashes, because alcohol-impaired drivers are more likely to speed, and speeding drivers are less likely to wear seat belts. Alcohol, lack of seat belts and speeding are a deadly combination.
Young males are the most likely to be involved in speed-related crashes. According to NHTSA data, 39 percent of male drivers age 15-20 who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash.
People often think of highways as a major factor for speeding fatalities, perhaps because speeds are highest on highways. But the vast majority of speeding-related fatalities happen on roads that are not interstate highways. NHTSA's fatality data shows that 47 percent of speed-related fatalities occur on roads posted at 50 mph or less, and more than 20 percent occur on roads posted at 35 mph or less.
In Arizona, posted speed limits are considered by law to be “reasonable speeds” for the area of roadway with normal traffic conditions. ALWAYS, you must adjust your speed based upon multiple factors: Traffic and pedestrian presence, weather and type of roadway. Is it a violation of the law to travel 65 on a 55 mph high with no traffic? No. Could it be a violation of the law to drive 25 in a 25 mph zone in an area filled with school kids? Yes. You are required to adjust your speed to the traffic and other conditions present at all times. “Reasonableness” is always the deciding factor.
A little after 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 23, 1990, Leirmo settled her car into Lot
60 on the UW campus and released her bike from its rack. Sigrid hadn't cycled
much as a child and was not a hardcore biker. When she bought her first
mountain bike as an adult, she'd even practiced in quiet areas before venturing
into traffic. Her bike was simply a
practical way to get from her car to her bacteriology lab.
She didn't make it. Pedaling onto Willow Drive -- which at the time
accommodated both cars and a 10-foot-wide bike path -- she rounded a corner and
headed up the slight grade, where she encountered Gerald Hall riding in the
other direction. "Both zigged, both zagged, both zigged again,"
UW-Madison Police Lt. Gary Moore told the Wisconsin State Journal. About 50 feet
from the entrance to Willow Beach they collided with force enough to bend
Leirmo's frame. She went flying, hit her bare head, went dark.
Sigrid Leirmo never regained consciousness and was declared dead at UW
Hospital at 9:50 that morning. The coroner determined that, had she been
wearing a helmet, she would probably have lived. Gerald
Hall, wearing his helmet, cut himself
up and lost a tooth, but walked away.
Leirmo's father and cousin collected her car afterwards. On the passenger
seat was Sigrid's helmet. "That was a real shock to me," recalls her
cousin Robert Rand. Her father, David Leirmo, remembers two helmets in the car.
Family, friends and colleagues all remarked that she was a cautious type, a
helmet wearer. Why hadn't she put it on?
I have never been able to shake the wild random circumstances of this crash.
Such a small decision, such a minute deviation from her norm, and suddenly, Sigrid Leirmo is gone.
I've been thinking a lot more about it lately because I've noticed more and
more bare-headed bikers. I'm often out
during commute time, and suddenly it seemed like helmets were in decline. There
was a new generation of younger, hipper urban bikers who seemed to bare their
heads with rebel pride. I see families out, the kids helmeted and the parents
unprotected.
To be clear, I'm a helmet wearer, and I'm comfortable cautioning kids I
know. I am not interested in mandating helmets, at least for adults. I
understand the allure. A helmet can feel awkward and artless, and the wind in
your hair is a liberating, sensual feeling. So I'm told.
But I'm also perplexed. In the last decade our long-running wars have given
us a painfully public knowledge of traumatic brain injury. We know more about
concussion problems that could transform the sporting scene. New imaging
science has wrapped probing fingers around our gray matter, giving us a
wondrous view into our brain's strength, plasticity and ultimate fragility.
I love that more people are biking. But why do we choose now to stop wearing
helmets? What would Sigrid think?
The case for and against
We are in a golden age of cycling. Gorgeous machines regularly spin by,
sleek frames in eye-popping, candy-coated splendor. With matching wheel sets!
Some employ technology that, on a larger scale, might take you to the moon.
Others are simple triangles and circles of steel with 30-year-old components.
And after decades of struggle, bicycles are finally winning belated
recognition as important players in our transportation economy. Having secured
some share of our massive public roads expenditure, infrastructure for cyclists
is on the rise. Intrepid riders and entrepreneurs keep stretching the
boundaries, pushing bikes into places you never saw them just a decade ago.
Helmets remain an area of active debate. Statistically speaking, there's no
data to support my observation that helmet use is in decline. Recent studies have found about 60% of commuters
wear helmets.
Women were more likely to wear helmets, and virtually all of the riders without
helmets are under 30.
A lot of studies have been done trying to tease out what makes bikers safe.
Sometimes helmet use is shown to have a positive influence. Other research
shows that helmet laws and even militant helmet advocacy tend to discourage
cycling. Investments in biking infrastructure have a clear benefit. "An argument can be made that
mandatory helmet laws and/or militant advocacy of helmet use actually make the
cyclists that are still on the road less safe because they are not surrounded
by as many other cyclists”, experts say.
Other research suggests that in aggregate the health benefits from being
active are overwhelmingly more positive than the health detriments from cycling
injuries. It's an intriguing case for building a bike culture. But don't
confuse population benefits with the personal ones.
Head trauma
Dr. Lee Faucher, a trauma surgeon, knows helmets are a hard sell. He and
some colleagues once analyzed the hospital's accident data. Experience and
intuition told them that helmets matter, but accidents are complex events that
don't easily fit statistical models. They couldn't prove that helmets save
lives.
But Faucher can tell you what happens when your head hits something hard.
"All the energy is transferred to the inside," he explains. "The
skull hits the object, and then the brain hits the inside of the skull,"
he says. What helmets do is reduce the energy transferred to the brain. Like an
airbag or a crumple zone, they slow down the crash.
The brain is a very complex electrical circuit, and a head injury scrambles
communication between brain cells. "It just is not going to work very
well," Faucher says. Impact also disrupts the delicate network of arteries
and veins, and bleeding can disrupt brain function. If the bleeding is bad
enough, pressure builds within the skull, which decreases blood flow. Any
oxygen deprivation leads to further dysfunction down the road.
Neurosurgeon Josh Medow picks up the
story from there. While a helmet is no guarantee, in his experience, most
people wearing helmets are fine and ready to go in a couple of days.
Recovering from head trauma, on the other hand, can be a significant
challenge. Imagine not being able to balance a checkbook or not being able to
read a newspaper article once and understand it. You might have weakness in a
limb or a side of the body, or difficulty speaking. You might lose motivation,
even moxie. Many trauma victims will gain a substantial amount of weight. Parts
of you may never be the same.
ARIZONA BIKE HELMET LAW:
There is no helmet requirement (except for those under 18).
But, if you are in an accident, and the defense/insurance company can later
prove that you would not have sustained the same injuries had you been wearing
a helmet, you may be denied a recovery for your injuries. Really?
Yep. That’s the law.
Be smart. Wear your
helmet. It may just save your life.
Two disturbing reports out this week point out the dangers faced by children
while riding in cars.
The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that more than a third of
children under age 13 who died in passenger vehicle crashes in 2011 were not in
car seats or wearing seat belts.
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving said that during that same year, 20% of fatalities (226 deaths) of children under age 15 -- were a result of drunk driving
crashes. It’s probably a good guess that in many of these accidents, the
adult driver was too inebriated to remember to buckle up young children safely.
“Drunk driving with a child passenger is a form of child abuse and no child
should ever be put in that kind of danger, especially by those entrusted to
keep them safe,” said Jan Withers, MADD national president.
Car crashes remain a leading cause of death for children.
"Regardless of the size of the vehicle, the age of the child or the
length of the trip, children should always be properly restrained in a car
seat, booster or seat belt," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.
"Car seats, when correctly installed and used, provide proven life-saving
and injury-reducing benefits for child passengers."
The agency said that on average, almost two children under age 13 were
killed and 338 were injured daily while riding in cars.
Drivers don’t seem to understand the importance of child restraints in big
vehicles. For example, 24% of the fatalities were of children riding in
passenger cars. That rose to 40% for vans, 43% for pickup trucks and 55% for
sport utility vehicles.
ARIZONA
LAW:
Do you know that Arizona requires that all front seat
passengers be seat belted?
Do you know that Arizona law requires that children 16 and
under be seat belted, no matter whether they are in the front or rear seat, and
that the law puts the responsibility on the driver of the vehicle they are
riding in?
Be responsible. Your kids are too young to know the
importance of wearing seat belts. It is YOUR responsibility as a driver,
and a parent, to look out for their safety. If they are unbelted, and
injured by another driver’s fault, could you be held partially liable?
Under Arizona law, you bet. Don’t take that chance.
Bike Helmet Safety can help prevent more injuries than if you were to be in a bicycle accident without one.
So what exactly should you know when it comes to bike helmet safety? We've compiled a list below.
How can I tell
if a helmet will keep my child safe?
You should only
buy a helmet that meets the bicycle helmet safety standards of the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Any helmet meeting these standards is labeled as such. Check the inside
of the helmet.
Do all helmets
meet these standards?
All helmets
manufactured or imported for use after March 1999 must comply with a mandatory
safety standard issued by the CPSC.
Can other kinds
of helmets be used for bicycling?
Each type of
helmet is designed for protection in specific conditions, and may not offer protection in all
bike crashes or falls. Bike helmets are very protective in head-first
falls at fairly high speeds, and are light and well ventilated for comfort and
acceptability. A multisport helmet, certified to meet the CPSC standard for
bicycle helmets, also is acceptable.
Where can I get
a helmet?
Helmets meeting
CPSC safety standards are available at bicycle shops and at some discount,
department, and toy stores in adult, children, and toddler's sizes and styles. Important Note: Never buy or use a used bike helmet because it may be
too old to provide protection or may have been in a previous
crash.
Which is better,
hard-shell or soft-shell helmets?
The essential
part of the helmet for impact protection is a thick layer of firm polystyrene,
plastic foam, that crushes on impact, absorbing the force of the blow. All
helmets require a chin strap to keep them in place in a crash.
Hard-shell
helmets
also have a hard outer shell of plastic or fiberglass that provides a shield
against penetration by sharp objects and holds the polystyrene together if it
cracks in a fall or crash. These helmets are more sturdy, but tend to be
heavier and warmer than the soft-shell models.
Soft-shell
helmets
have no hard outer shell but are made of an extra-thick layer of polystyrene
covered with a cloth cover or surface coating. The cloth cover is an essential
part of many soft-shell helmets. If the helmet comes with a cover, the cover
must always be worn to hold the helmet together if the polystyrene cracks on
impact.
Both types of
helmets meet CPSC standards; the main difference is style and comfort. The
soft-shell helmets are lighter than the hard shell versions but may be less
durable.
Although there
is no consensus on the relative safety of the 2 types, models of both types
have passed the CPSC test. The soft-shell helmets are lighter than the
hard-shell versions but may be less durable.
How should a
helmet fit?
A helmet should
be worn squarely on top of the head, covering the top of the forehead. If it is
tipped back, it will not protect the forehead. The helmet fits well if it
doesn't move around on the head or slide down over the wearer's eyes when
pushed or pulled. The chin strap should be adjusted to fit snugly.
Are there
helmets for infants?
Yes. Many
infant-sized helmets are of the soft-shell variety. They are light, an
important consideration for small children whose necks may not be strong enough
to comfortably hold a hard-shell helmet. Babies younger than 1 year have
relatively weak neck structure. Neither helmets nor bike traveling is
recommended for them.
How long will a
child's helmet fit?
An infant's or
child's helmet should fit for several years. Most models have removable fitting
pads that can be replaced with thinner ones as the child's head grows.
Can a helmet be
reused after a crash?
In general, a helmet that has been through a
serious fall or crash should be retired with gratitude. It has served its purpose
and may not provide adequate protection in another crash. If you are uncertain
whether the helmet is still usable, throw it away.
Some of the most common injuries that are sustained by many
are slip and fall accidents. Many don’t think about a slip and fall accident as
being dangerous, but nearly 1 million emergency room visits are because of a
slip and fall injury.
When someone suffers a slip and fall accident, an attorney
will usually evaluate the situation to determine causation and establish
liability.
Since premises liability and slip and fall claims involve
complicated laws and legal issues, the first and most important step is to
contact an experienced premises liability attorney. A thorough and quick
investigation must be conducted and eyewitnesses must be contacted prior to any
alteration or modification of the dangerous area. It is imperative that the
owner be placed on notice to preserve
all evidence. You should contact a lawyer as soon
as is possible.
Also, there may be deadlines and statutes of limitations
that may significantly affect your slip and fall case. You should not wait
until the statute of limitations period is running out because your attorney
may not have enough time to complete his investigation.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a
slip-and-fall accident, you need to contact and experienced slip and fall lawyer
in Arizona—as soon as possible. Evidence of the cause of the incident can be
lost forever if it is not investigated soon after an accident. Whether its a defect on the floor or a liquid
spill, an experienced slip and fall lawyer in Arizona can obtain the evidence
of such condition. This is critical to proving that a landowner or occupier was
negligent in preventing the injuries suffered.
Slip-and-fall
accidents often result in serious injuries. The probability of
having a slip-and-fall accident in a public place is far greater than at home.
For one, a person is more likely to be distracted, and, more importantly, he or
she may not be aware of the existing floor defects or surface liquid spills.
The duty of businesses to exercise reasonable care to prevent exposing their
customers to an unreasonable risk of injury is critical to reducing the number
of slip-and-fall
accidents.
Whether an owner or occupier of a land owes visitors a duty
to protect them against dangers found on the land depends on the status of the
visitor at the time. Generally speaking there are three (3) categories of
visitors: 1) trespasser, 2) licensee or 3) invitee.
A trespasser is a person who enters a premises without
permission.
A licensee is a person that enters on the land, with the
landowners permission, for his or her own purpose or business. (A social guest
is considered a licensee).
An invitee is someone that enters onto the premises in
response to an invitation of the landowner.
There are two types of invitees:
(i) those who enter as members of the public for a purpose for which the land
is held open to the public (e.g., museums, airports), and (ii) those who enter
for a purpose connected with the business or other interests of the landowner
or occupier (e.g., store customers and people accompanying them, employees,
persons making deliveries). It is always important to know your rights and options if you have been injured in a slip and fall accident.
Children of all ages love the water. When you spend time
with them in the backyard pool or at the lake, you are making memories together
that will last a lifetime. Sadly, across the United States, child
drownings are still a leading cause of injury and death. The risk is even
higher in Arizona, a state ranked second in the nation for child drownings.
Below are some very important tips in helping keep you and your
loved ones safe at all times while enjoying the water. Supervision is the best
defense to drownings, but the tips below can also help.
Barriers
Make sure your pool or spa has an effective barrier, such as a
fence to help guard against unauthorized access.
Your pool or spa should have a barrier regardless of whether they
are covered.
Door and windows leading to the pool areas should be locked.
Fence gates should have self-closing, self-latching
mechanisms. Latches need to be out of reach of young
children.
Watch
Never leave your child unattended in or near a swimming pool, hot
tub, spa, not even for a second.
Keep toys, tricycles, and other children's play things away from
the pool or spa.
Don't consider your children to be "drownproof" because
they have taken swimming lessons.
Don't allow barriers, such as fences or walls, give you a false
sense of security regarding your child's safety. There is No substitute
for adult supervision.
Learn
Learn how to administer CPR, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and
other lifesaving techniques. To administer CPR correctly you must be
properly trained.
Know how to contact your local emergency medical
services. Install a phone or keep a cordless phone in the pool or spa
area. Post the emergency number in an easy to see place.
Learn to swim and teach age appropriate children to swim.
Other Pool
Safety Tips
Do not allow children to play in or around the pool area.
Mount life saving devices near the pool.
Keep tables, chairs and ladders away from pool fences.
Check placement of doggie doors for direct access to pool area.
Post your local emergency number on the phone. Think about
installing a phone near the pool area.
If you
find a child in any source of water...
Yell for help and pull the child out of the water.
Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number immediately!
Begin CPR if you are trained.
If you are not trained to administer CPR, follow the instructions
from the 9-1-1 operator until help arrives.
With the weather on the rise, and summer break is in session for most children, it is very important that we mantain a safe communication with them regarding the rules of swimming. Pool drownings in Arizona happen more often than almost every other state in America. Let's be sure to stay aware of where our children are at all times when the pool gates are open.
An average of 390 children drown each year in the United States, most
younger than 5, according to two new reports. "We are talking
about 15 preschool classes lost in a pool or spa every year. This is a national
health and safety problem that we must work to get fixed," said Inez
Tenenbaum, chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Approximately 5,100 pool or spa-related injuries occur each year involving
children younger than 15. Some of those injured require life-long medical care,
resulting in millions of dollars in medical costs, Tenenbaum said.
The entrapment report also revealed that from 2008 to 2012, there were 39
swimmers caught in drains at the bottom of pools. Two people died as a result
of this "circulation entrapment," in which the force of water rushing
through the drain traps the swimmer. Three-fourths of those trapped were under
16.
Wasserman Schultz sponsored the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act,
which became law in 2007, making it the first federal pool and spa safety law.
The law established a federal swimming pool and spa drain cover standard and
other safety measures for pools nationwide.
Last year, Florida, Texas and California had the highest number of pool and spa
deaths in children up to age 14, according to the U.S. Swimming report.
Organizations such as the Red Cross, YMCA, Abbey's Hope and the Josh Project
provide free or low-cost swimming lessons to parents and children nationwide.
"Our overall goal is to reduce the number of child drowning across the
country by training children to swim and educating parents on the critical
importance of supervising children in and near the water," Wasserman
Schultz said.
The weather is warming up in Arizona. Please, be careful out there.
Remember, two seconds is too long.
