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Wrongful Death Attorneys – Drowning Accident Lawyers
About 10 people die from unintentional drowning in the U.S. each day, affecting the lives of numerous newly grieving loved ones. If you’ve lost a loved one to a preventable drowning incident due to the negligence of another party, a lawyer can assess your eligibility to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
About Drowning Accident Lawyers – Wrongful Death Attorneys
Unintentional drowning poses a serious threat to national public health, ranking fifth as one of the leading causes of unintentional death in the United States.
Drowning-related deaths most often occur on residential properties in home pools. This is especially true with child victims, who make up about 25 percent of drowning victims.
Drowning incidents can have life-changing consequences for victims and their families. Nonfatal drowning survivors face a high risk of serious, long-term health problems, while fatal drowning injuries can have devastating emotional and financial consequences for surviving loved ones.
Depending on the nature of the incident, families of fatal drowning victims may have the grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the owner of the property where the drowning occurred.
Drowning Accident Lawyers
In St. Louis, for example, one family successfully sued their 12-year old son’s middle school in 2015 after the young boy drowned in the school’s swimming pool during gym class.
If you’ve lost a loved one to a preventable drowning incident due to the negligence of another party, the lawyers of Florin|Roebig can assess the details of your case and determine if you qualify to sue the negligent party for wrongful death compensation.
Drowning Accident Lawyers : How Does Drowning Occur?
Drowning is a process of suffocation that occurs when a liquid has covered a person’s mouth and nose, cutting off their oxygen supply. Drowning will often occur silently, as few people are able to wave their hands or call for help.
While drowning can occur very suddenly, people can also pass away from drowning injuries after the initial incident if complications of the drowning are left untreated. Symptoms that can arise after a drowning rescue may include anxiety, wheezing, vomiting, and loss of consciousness.
In some cases, individuals may die of drowning-related complications hours after the initial incident, with common complications including hypothermia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, hypoxia, head and spinal cord injury, and aspiration of vomit.
Common sites of drowning deaths include:
• home pools
• hot tubs
• baths
• sinks (infant drowning)
• ditches
• ponds
• rivers
• water parks
• flood disasters
• boating accidents
Drowning Accident Lawyers : Who Is Most At Risk For Drowning?
Drowning most commonly happens in people who have convenient access to water sources, such as pools or natural waters like ponds and rivers.
About 90 percent of global drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. However, areas in the U.S. such as Florida that have an abundance of water parks, swimming pools, and beaches, have also been identified as risky areas for drowning injuries and deaths.
According to the CDC, risk factors for drowning include:
• lack of swimming ability
• young age
• access to swimming pools
• lack of supervision
• lack of barriers (e.g. fencing around home pools)
• failing to wear a life jacket
• having a seizure disorder
• swimming while under the influence of alcohol
Environmental factors—such as access to pools and location—can carry just as much weight as the personal factors that may influence drowning risk, such as being unable to swim. However, being able to swim, or even being rescued from a drowning incident, may not fully protect a person from drowning-related death.
If a person has been rescued after a near-fatal drowning incident, it’s important to seek medical attention right away to have them properly assessed for medical complications. Neglecting treatment after a near-fatal drowning may result in life-threatening consequences such as cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest.
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Drowning Accident Lawyers : Child Drowning Victims
Drowning is the second-leading cause of preventable death among children and adolescents under the age of 15, with children aged one to four at the highest risk for fatal drowning.
The majority of child drowning incidents occur on residential properties—in home pools, baths, hot tubs, or sinks. Children who have underlying medical conditions such as epilepsy may be at a higher risk of suffering serious and potentially fatal drowning complications.
Tips for preventing fatal drowning injuries include:
• teaching children basic swimming skills
• supervising children who are in or around water
• using the buddy system
• learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• wearing a lifejacket when swimming in an open water source
What are the most common injuries associated with drowning?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year in the U.S. witnesses 3,960 drowning deaths.1 Fatal drowning incidents can produce catastrophic losses, both emotional and financial, for surviving family members and loved ones.
The CDC also estimates that there are approximately 8,080 nonfatal drownings in the U.S. every year.2 Survivors in drowning cases will often face hospitalization and may suffer from the following serious injuries:
• brain injuries (including brain damage),
• organ damage,
• acute respiratory distress syndrome,
• hypothermia,
• hypoxia, and
• head and spinal cord injury.
Note that drowning is where people suffocate because a liquid (usually water) covers their mouth and nose and thereby cuts off their oxygen supply.
In the U.S., more young children ages one to four die from drowning than any other cause of death except birth defects.3
Further, nearly 80% of drowning victims are male. Many factors might contribute to higher rates of drowning among males, including increased exposure to water, risk-taking behaviors, and alcohol use.4
Factors that increase the risk of drowning or near-drowning accidents include:
• lack of supervision or negligent supervision (for example, by parents or lifeguards),
• boating accidents,
• absence of fencing or other similar barriers around pool areas and hot tubs,
• failing to wear a life jacket,
• failing to post pool safety or water safety tips for swimmers,
• consuming alcohol, and
• poor swimming ability.5
Who can a person sue following a drowning accident?
Potentially liable parties in pool drowning and other drowning cases will depend on the facts of a case and the jurisdiction in which the victim resides.
With that said, however, common defendants in these cases include:
• property owners and private pool owners,
• owners of public pools,
• apartment complexes,
• water parks,
• recreational centers and neighborhood associations, and
• hotels.
Swimming pool accident victims and drowning victims can base a drowning lawsuit on a wide variety of legal theories. Some of these include:
• negligence (or the failure to uphold a duty of care),
• premises liability,
• product liability (for example, in drowning cases involving faulty pool drains),
• attractive nuisance, and
• wrongful death.
If successful in filing a lawsuit, an injured person is generally entitled to recover all compensatory damages that result from a defendant’s acts.
Compensatory damages can include (but are not limited to):
• medical bills,
• lost wages,
• lost earning capacity, and
• pain and suffering.
In very rare cases, injury victims in these matters may receive punitive damages.
Note that in wrongful death suits, surviving family members can recover:
• burial and funeral expenses,
• amounts the deceased would have earned as income, and
• compensation for the loss of the deceased’s companionship and support.
What is the role of a drowning accident attorney?
Prior to filing a lawsuit, a drowning accident lawyer can help an injury victim receive medical care. The lawyer can also manage a party’s medical treatment once initial care is provided.
Attorneys can also investigate injuries and assist in gathering evidence in order to build an effective legal case.
A drowning accident attorney can also send a demand letter to an at-fault party. A demand letter is a document that notifies the party of an injured victim’s intent to file a personal injury claim with the party’s insurance company.
If a claim is unsuccessful or not filed for some reason, a personal injury lawyer can then file and litigate a lawsuit.
Lawsuits are often complex and include many deadlines. Skilled lawyers are best suited to handle these complexities and time limits that must be met.
What are the benefits of hiring a drowning accident lawyer?
Skilled personal injury lawyers will know what a drowning accident case is worth. This means they will help a client receive the exact payout that he/she deserves.
Attorneys can also find hidden value in a case in order to maximize a client’s compensation.
Note that drowning accident cases can sometimes involve several different liable parties, which could mean multiple insurance policies affecting the case. Lawyers are skilled in analyzing insurance policies so as to know with whom to file an injury claim.
While some people injured from a drowning accident can try to represent themselves, people represented by a lawyer usually receive bigger settlements.