It’s finally starting to feel like spring in the Philly area. With spring comes all kinds of fun things: baseball, BBQs, swimming, windows open for fresh air, kids running around outside.
For personal injury lawyers, warm weather also brings to mind different types of accidents that happen more commonly in summer. So, at the risk of raining on your barbeque, we are offering a guide to precautions you can take to have a fun and safe summer.
If you suffer an injury this summer, contact Aversa & Linn for help in evaluating the situation and protecting your rights.
Windows
If, like many of us, you enjoy leaving windows open on warm spring and summer days, take a few precautions to keep any children in the house safe.
Most importantly, remember that screens will not prevent falls!!!
You can prevent any accidents of children falling out of windows by:
- keeping furniture pushed away from windows;
- installing window stops to prevent children from opening windows all the way;
- considering window guards for the second floor and higher; and
- making sure window air conditioner units are securely installed.
Entertaining
With Memorial Day right around the corner, many of us are pulling the cover off the grill and inviting friends and family over to share meals.
A few things to do to help ensure the safety of your family and any guests:
- Supervise children.
- Grill outside and away from the house. Never bring a grill inside the house or garage.
- Inspect any playground equipment to make sure it is stable and safe.
- Check the yard for any holes or ditches.
- Inspect wooden decks for sharp objects and rusty nails.
- Rethink the trampoline.
- Secure any lawn equipment in a place inaccessible to children.
- Make sure any fire pits and propane appliances are inspected to make sure they are secure and working properly.
Pools
Although everyone loves a pool party on a hot summer day, if you have a pool, there are measures you should take to reduce the risk of someone getting hurt, or even drawing, on your property. As terrible as it is to even think about, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death among children ages 1 to 4.
The top safety tips recommended by the Red Cross are:
- Secure your pool with appropriate barriers: make sure the pool can only be accessed by adults or supervised children.
- Designate a water watcher…and stay in arm’s reach of young children.
- Install anti-entrapment drain covers and safety release systems to protect against drain entrapment.
- If a child is missing, check the water first.
Secure your pool with appropriate barriers
Even if you don’t have children at home, pools are considered an “attractive nuisance” by the law. This means something that could tempt a child to come near it, even without permission, and get hurt.
For that reason, pools should be surrounded on all sides by a 4 feet high fence with a self-closing gate. According to the Red Cross “a four-sided isolation fence (separating the pool area from the house and yard) reduces a child’s risk of drowning 83% compared to three-sided property-line fencing.”
Your yard being fenced in is not enough to ensure safe pool access.
Designate a water watcher
We are all guilty of being distracted by our phones and devices. This is why it is recommended that adults take turns as the official water watcher, so there is always at least one adult, within arms reach of any small children, who is focused and paying attention. Every second counts with water injuries and drowning.
If a child is missing, check the water first.
69% of young children who drown were not expected to be in or near water. Again, every second matters in preventing death or disability.
Other recommendations for pool safety:
- Educate yourself and all family members to know what to do in a water emergency – including how to help someone in trouble in the water safely, call for emergency help and CPR.
- Set and enforce pool rules.
- Store reaching or throwing equipment, life jackets, and a first-aid kit near home pools.
Using simple and practical precautions can ensure that you and your guests can enjoy summer fun safely.
If you suffer an injury this summer, contact Aversa & Linn for help in evaluating the situation and protecting your rights.
