Nearly everyone enjoys a day at the pool or the beach. Swimming, sailing, and playing water games are a great way for a family to spend time together. Tragedy may occur, however, when adults and children forget to keep safety in mind during these activities. A day in the water can become a parent’s worst nightmare when a child is badly injured.
Child drowning-injury lawyer Jeffre Killino is committed to obtaining compensation for families of children injured in drowning accidents. Contact The Killino Firm at 877-875-2927 to learn about legal issues related to drowning injuries, including
Alarming Statistics
According to the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP), drowning is one of the leading causes of injury-related deaths in children (known as fatal drowning). Yet, most children survive a drowning accident (known as non-fatal drowning), resulting in what are often lifelong catastrophic injuries.
Anyone preparing for a trip to a lake, ocean, or swimming pool should be familiar with basic water safety rules. Unfortunately, many people do not educate themselves about this important issue, or forget about the rules once they start having fun. Statistics show that drowning deaths are a persistent problem across the nation.
- In 2005, an average of 10 Americans drowned every day.
- Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children under 14.
- Boys are four times more likely to drown than girls.
- The leading risk factor in childhood drowning is lack of supervision.
- Private swimming pools that are not properly fenced off pose a significant risk to children.
Causes of Drowning Accidents
Property owners and managers have a duty to keep pool areas safe for children. If any of the following factors contributed to your child’s accident, you may have a legal claim against the responsible party.
- Lack of life preservers
- Lack of depth markings
- Lack of warning signs
- Lack of proper lighting
- Lack of on-duty lifeguard
- Lack of fence and/or gate
Consequences of Drowning Accidents
While some consequences of drowning accidents are immediate and severe, others can haunt a child for the rest of his or her life. Drowning-injury lawyer Jeff Killino has extensive experience with non-fatal drowning injuries sustained by children, including
- Coma
- Seizures
- Brain Injuries
- Cognitive Changes
- Personality Changes
- Hemiparesis
If your child has suffered from any of these injuries as a result of a drowning accident, attorney Jeff Killino can help you obtain justice from the individuals or entities responsible.
Legal Liability for Drowning Injuries
Laws applicable to drowning injuries vary from state to state and may depend not only on the particular state and municipality in which a swimming facility is located but on the nature of the owner of that facility, as well.
Trespass and Attractive Nuisance
A private-property owner on which a pool is located may be held liable for the drowning injury of a swimmer if the owner’s negligence is found to have been a cause of that injury. Even when a child sustains a drowning injury while trespassing on a homeowner’s land, the homeowner may be held liable for the child’s injuries if he or she failed to take adequate precautions (such as erecting protective fencing) to prevent children from accessing the pool.
Landowners may also be liable for injuries caused to trespassing children under the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine. This doctrine is a tort-law concept that holds the owner of land liable for injuries caused to children by dangerous conditions or objects that are likely to attract children and the dangers of which are not readily apparent to most children.
Hotel and Private-club Owners
Though hotel and private-club owners may also be liable for drowning injuries caused by their negligence, they may be relieved of such liability if the parents of children who sustain drowning injuries failed to supervise their children despite posted warnings that parents are required to supervise their children while they are swimming.
Public pools and swimming facilities
In many cases, the owners of property made available for public use may be immune from liability for drowning accidents. Under a state’s Recreational Use Statute, those who allow members of the public to access their land for recreational purposes and do not charge a fee owe no duty of care to keep the premises safe or warn of dangerous conditions.
This immunity from liability may depend on whether the land is developed or undeveloped, however. In addition, if the owner acted willfully or maliciously rather than negligently and the owner’s actions were a cause of a child’s drowning injury, the owner may lose the immunity the owner would ordinarily enjoy under the state’s recreational use statute.
Contact Us
If you have lost a child in a preventable drowning accident, or your child has suffered permanent injuries due to such an accident, drowning-injury attorney Jeff Killino will help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled. Contact The Killino Firm at 877-875-2927 for caring and expert assistance.