Connecticut Child Injury Lawyer Blog

Connecticut's outdoor swimming pool season is short, so pool owners take great care to prepare their pools for maximum use during our warm weather season from May through September. However, with that preparation comes a word of caution about the dangers of owning a swimming pool, and the risks of serious injuries, especially to children, when proper safety guidelines are not followed.

Unfortunately, when a child is injured in a Connecticut pool, it is often a very serious injury, or even, as was the case with a six year old from Greenwich, Connecticut, a fatality. It is especially sad, and frustrating, when such injuries can, or should have been prevented. In the Greenwich, Connecticut pool tragedy, the owner of the pool company responsible for the installation was arrested for failing to comply with swimming pool design and construction regulations, in omitting a protective valve cover. Because that valve cover was not in place, the six year old boy became trapped, under water, due to the valve's strong suction. Had the cover been in place, as required by code, he could not have become trapped by that valve, it is claimed by his family's attorneys. Just this year, Congress passed the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. This act requires valves and drains to be properly covered, which will prevent many entrapments, and eviscerations.

Connecticut's swimming pool laws are designed to protect swimmers from serious injury and even death, which can be caused by drowning, entrapment in a drain or valve, or due to misplaced diving boards in an area that is too shallow. There are a number of Connecticut swimming pool rules relating to safety, but a few are exceptionally noteworthy, and well worth mentioning, since many pool owners may not even be aware of them.

Whenever my kids visit a friend whose house has a pool, we ask safety questions in the same manner as if they child were going to a house where guns might be present: what safety measures are in place to protect my kids from harm? Will you be present at all times if the kids are in the pool? If not, then who will be watching them? Do you have fencing around the pool, and an alarm in place, as required? Most times, unless the house is one whose owners are close friends, and we are comfortable with how they handle their pool safety, we will simply ask that our child not be allowed in or even near the pool at all absent our presence. We have had no complaints from those parents, thankfully, as they have been both accommodating of our concerns, and genuinely pleased that we take such an interest in safety.

Continue reading "Connecticut Pool Safety Requirements Meant to Reduce Drownings and Injuries" »

Saugatuck Elementary School, in Westport, Connecticut has a terrific looking 2 year old artificial turf playing field. It's composition includes recycled rubber tire particles, formed into small pellets which lie between the plastic grass strands. My kids love it! It doesn't get muddy, so they can play football in the rain at recess, and it is always soft, never dried out from the late summer sun. Further, those excrement making machines, our band of merry Canada geese, stay off it. Those pellets do come home in sneakers and clothing, but are easily shaken off or washed out.

However, while it needs no pesticides or other chemicals to stay green all year long, the make-up of this synthetic turf field may, some claim, be harmful in other ways. The risk that children playing on these types of fields might be injured, or exposed to harmful chemicals from the pellets, is the subject of many local, and national, opinions, both for and against the continued use of artificial turf instead of natural grass.

Connecticut is using money from a prior environmental contamination settlement to determine if the ground-up tires is the equivalent of a defective product when it is used for fields or in gardens as mulch. While I am not aware of any fields having been closed during this investigation, apparently, no new fields will be approved until the safety issue is resolved.

Continue reading "Westport, Connecticut Synthetic Turf Fields: Safe or Sorry?" »

Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection warns of Risk to Children of Serious Ear Injury or Hearing Loss from personal audio players, iPods, MP3 players and other personal audio devices

According to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, children’s ears are at risk of serious injury, including hearing loss, from the loud, in the ear sounds produced by today’s iPods, MP3 players, and other personal audio devices. While these products may not have been deemed defective, it’s the fact that they work so well that makes them dangerous. These electronic music players are some of the most requested holiday and special occasion items on our kids’ wish lists. They are also marketed to and purchased directly by kids who are good savers, or who have a successful paper route, internet business, or if they were lucky enough to have a valuable trading card to sell.

These devices are small, powerful and have battery lives that allow the user to listen for longer than the old Sony Walkman-esque music players. Most include “ear buds” or “in-the-ear”-type earphones, creating direct paths to the eardrum. Many players are capable of producing sound up to 120 decibels. That’s the equivalent of a jumbo jet taking off, or a rock concert near the speakers (see Wiikepdia under “120 decibels”). At levels above about 85 decibels, children are exposed to a serious risk of early hearing impairment, especially when used for prolonged periods of time, according to experts in child hearing loss. iPods, and some other brands have a volume limiting setting that parents can control, and can make permanent by also using a security code to lock it in place. Because the user may not always be in a place where parental monitoring is possible, these types of protections can make a difference.

Another method of reducing the risk of serious injury to the ears of children, and adults, too, is to use noise-cancelling ear-buds or headphones, which are usually only available as an aftermarket item, but which allow for listening at lower volumes by reducing outside noise.

However, all must acknowledge the risk of serious injury to children’s ears and hearing if they are allowed to listen without limiting the time and volume. The harm might be unseen on the outside, but it is certainly going to leave a mark on the inside. If you, your child, friends or relatives have suffered an injury to the ear, of have suffered hearing loss from excessive noise exposure, know your rights by contacting a personal injury attorney experienced in handling claims for serious personal injuries.

iPod Use Now Can Mean Deafness Later
12-22-08 McClatchy-Tribune, by Jodi Mailander Farrell