Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog

Social networking and dating web sites have brought meeting people, dating, and, yes, adultery into the current modern era. While the technology along with the computers, i phones, Black Berry devices, and Google Phones are new, the problems that go along with meeting people, dating, and adultery are the same old problems. Read this month's Legal Briefs Newsletter - Adultery in Florida - Lessons Learned from Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. You will see how a My Space post resulted in domestic violence and an arrest right here in Atlantic Beach (Jacksonville), Florida. You can also read all about my commentary regarding Glenn Close (Alex Forrest) in Fatal Attraction. For anyone about the embark upon the dark and lonely trail of adultery, Fatal Attraction is a must watch film. What does a boiling bunny and an extramarital affair have to do with each other? Read my Legal Briefs Newsletter to find out.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Legal Briefs Newsletter

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A Lake Oswego, Orgeon Fifth Grader died after blocking a football punt at recess. The boy collapsed immediately and could not breathe. See Fifth Grader Dies from Recess Football Punt. This shocking and unexpected incident ended the life of the Fifth Grader. In Florida and other States, accidents and incidents involving child injury and death take place every day on playgrounds and recess areas at schools, child care facilities, and day care facilities. Some injuries are preventable with safety measures and proper supervision. Others are just freak or unexpected incidents that unfortunately result in injuries and some times death to the child. When children are at recess, free play or physical education in schools, it is important that the children get appropriate supervision, use appropriate equipment, and play with children of their age and size. It is also important for the school, day care facility, or child care facility to properly maintain and keep in good repair all play and recess areas including slides, swings, monkey bars, carousels, ladders, bridges, and other sports and playground equipment and structures.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Day Care Centers and Child Care , Education , Playground & Recreation Injuries , School Safety , Sport Related Injuries

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Hazing is still a serious problem in Florida and the rest of the United States. Clubs, fraternities, gangs, and sports camps all carry with them the danger of hazing. What is hazing? I guess this all depends who you ask. If you ask the hazing victim, hazing involves humiliation, degrading acts, psychological warfare, and physical abuse. If you ask the hazing criminal defendant, hazing is harmless fun that everyone had to go through in order to become part of the club, gang, or program. Like anything else, tradition is no excuse whatsoever for abusing another person. This especially applies to children.

The mental and physical injuries suffered by children who are victims of hazing incidents can often times last a lifetime. This especially applies to victims who have been sexually assaulted or molested.

In Las Vegas, New Mexico, six teens from the Robertson High School football program were charged with conspiracy and other criminal offenses for various hazing incidents at a high school football camp. The criminal acts included sodomizing the new football campers with broomsticks. How any of this relates to learning football skills or becoming a better football player is truly beyond comprehension.

The head coach and other coaches resigned. The quality and extent of supervision are seriously being questioned and should be investigated by police and prosecutors. In addition to a criminal investigation, the family of the victims can retain a personal injury attorney to further investigate the matter to make sure that those responsible (directly or indirectly) for the acts are identified and dealt with through criminal and / or civil proceedings. In addition to criminal charges, the victims of the hazing incidents may have personal injury claims against the school district, camp organizers, and any other entities that created or allowed such abusive incidents to take place. Imagine, parents send their child to football camp and the child comes back sexually assaulted and sodomized with a broomstick. This is truly a tragedy for the child and his family.

Robertson High School has a couple of New Mexico High School State Championships in recent years. Frankly, the horrific acts of sodomizing new recruits overshadows anything showing up in the win or loss column for the team in past years. You can read more about these hazing incidents at New Mexico Teens Charged for Hazing at Football Camp.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Crimes Against Children , Sexual Offenders / Predators , Sport Related Injuries

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Halloween is a day and night filled with joyful children tricker or treating through neighborhoods. It also brings with it some real dangers. On such danger is the possible contact of sex offenders with children. The State of Florida Probation Officers know the dangers and propensities of sex offenders very well. As such, probation officers have issued restrictions to sex offenders when dealing with children on Halloween. The restrictions also apply to the sex offender's roommates and family members. These restrictions include the following:

*Do not give out candy or anything else to children;

*Close blinds and turn off porch lights;

*Refrain from decorated the outside of the house to attract children during Halloween;

*Do not answer the door to any trick or treaters;

*Do not dress up in a costume, masks, or any other type of disguise; and

*Do not go to any Halloween parties where children will be around.

Probation officers will be monitoring sex offenders and will be conducting surpise visits and drive bys to make sure that the sex offenders are complying with the mandates of the above restrictions.

You read more about the details of the restrictions on Sex Offenders at Department of Corrections Stress the Importance of Sex Offender Restrictions During Halloween.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Crimes Against Children , Sexual Offenders / Predators

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Children are at risk for choking on food items and foreign objects due to physical and developmental factors. Choking can result in a transient or temporary event that causes no significant injuries. In other cases, choking can result in serious airway obstruction or blockage that can lead to permanent brain damage or death.

Children, especially those 5 and younger, need to be closely supervised and monitored. Food items can cause a child to choke. In addition, small foreign objects like coins, buttons, small toy parts, and other common items can cause choking incidents as well. Prevention is key to reduce the incidents of choking. When a choking incident does happen, timely response to vital to protect the health, safety and welfare of the child. A personal injury claim on behalf of a Florida child can be pursued if there was negligence in allowing the child to ingest the dangerous food item or foreign object OR if there was a serious delay in responding to the emergency situation involving a choking incident.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has conducted and published studies relating to choking incidents involving children. In 2001, over 17,000 children under the age of 14 were treated in emergency rooms for choking problems and complications. More than half of the incidents involved food items.

Almost 20 % of choking incidents requiring emergency room treatment involved candy items. Some involve hard candy and some involve soft candy like Gummy Bears.

Kids are still ingesting coins which accounted for approximately 18 % of emergency room visits in children between the ages of 1 and 4. You can read more about the CDC Study and Findings at Choking Incidents - Emergency Room Visits and Injuries.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Day Care Centers and Child Care , Dogs / Dog Bites / Animals / Pets , Education Law

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Florida Day Care / Child Care facilities must be clean, free from health and safety hazards and from vermin infestation. Under Rule 65C-22.002 Physical Environment of the Florida Administrative Code, a Day Care / Child Care facility provides that no part of the Day Care / Child Care building shall be used for any activity that endangers the health or safety of the children. This means that the Day Care / Child Care facility must keep the facility clean, keep dangerous machines / equipment away or out of the access of children, keep chemicals including but not limited to cleaning supplies, flammable products, poisonous products, and toxic products away from children, keep fire arms, knives, sharp objects, and other dangerous products away from children, and keep alcohol and drugs out of the reach of children. Smoking is prohibited in inside and outside the Day Care / Child Care facility as well as the vehicles used to transport children.

The failure of a Day Care / Child Care facility to follow the Florida Administrative Code and other laws and regulations often times leads to injury or harm to the child. Typically common sense, hard work, and attention to detail can avoid injuries to children in the Day Care / Child Care setting.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Abuse & Neglect , Child Safety , Crimes Against Children , Day Care Centers and Child Care , Education , School Safety , Statutory References (Florida)

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Florida has great weather year round which allows for the use of bounce houses year round at backyard birthday parties, neighborhood parties, schools, churches, and parks. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that approximately 4900 injuries resulted in emergency room visits in 2004. There have even been deaths that have occurred in bounce houses. Many serious injuries and deaths have resulted from the lack of supervision and the presence of older children or adults with younger children. Unsupervised, many children attempt stunts that are very dangerous which in turn result in head injuries and other injuries. Good behavior by the children and constant supervision by parents and caregivers can help prevent injuries to children while playing in a bounce house.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Attractions & Theme Parks , Attractive Nuisances , Child Safety , Day Care Centers and Child Care , Education , Playground & Recreation Injuries , School Safety , Slip & Fall Injuries

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Children accompany their parents to grocery stores every day in Jacksonville, Florida and other cities. Typically, things go well at the grocery store assuming there are no behavioral problems, wandering children, or unexpected injuries to Florida children in the form of fractures, lacerations, head injuries, and eye injuries. Many of these child injuries result from negligent maintenance or supervision of the retail store and surrounding area. Often, a Florida personal injury claim can be pursued if the retail store and its employees failed to properly provide for a safe environment for customers and their children. For the most part, retail stores like Publix, Winn Dixie, Target, and Wal-Mart keep their shopping carts clean and in good working order. I represented a client a few years ago who was knocked over by a shopping cart by an employee who was playing games in the parking lot. Children are especially prone to injuries as a result of falls and other incidents involving a shopping cart. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) conducted a study that showed over 20,000 annual injuries to children involving shopping carts which required treatment at an emergency room. You can read more about this study at Shopping Cart Injuries Involving Young Children.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Attractive Nuisances , Child Safety , Medical Care & Health Issues

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The Florida Highway Patrol has a special Halloween Page that gives safety tips to parents and children for Halloween. While Halloween is a special day and night, it also comes with it dangers of children on the road, children roaming house to house, and traffic. Go to the Florida Highway Patrol Web Site to check out the special Halloween Page. It is a cool page to show your children and a nice way to review great safety tips for Halloween.

Every year, children are injured while trick or treating. Halloween Night bring with it the dangers of crowded neighborhoods, parked cars blocking portions of the roadway, improper lighting, dark costumes, and children who do not have the best of judgment with the excitement of Halloween.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Attractive Nuisances , Automobile Accidents , Child Safety , Pedestrian Injuries

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The Orange County Health Department - Office of Environmental Services is offering a toy inspection program to evaluate toys for lead content. Child exposure to even small amounts of metal / lead can affect a child's brain development and health. There will be some costs associated with the inspection. It will be interesting to see the turn out for the program and inspections. I think this is a valuable program that can help reduce health problems and child injuries related to unsafe toys. You can read more about this program and the dangers of lead in toys at Orange County Florida (Orlando) Program to Inspect Toys for Hidden Dangers.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Medical Care & Health Issues

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The American Academy of Pediatrics released a report that advises parents of young children of the hazards of owning exotic animals like baby chicks, lizards, hamsters, and other animals. Young children are at risk for infection and disease because of their developing immune systems and the frequency in which children put their fingers in their mouths. The report advises parents of children younger than 5 from owning these kind of pets. You can read more about this report at Doctors: No hamsters or exotic pets for young kids.

While the report does not recommend that families get rid of the family dog or cat, injuries do occur with domestic animals. Even the most tame of dogs is still an animal and will, at times, bite when provoked or even when unprovoked. A dog bite injury can have a devastating impact on a child who, because of the dog bite injury, may need the services of an emergency medicine doctor, neurologist, infectious disease expert, and / or a plastic surgey.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Dogs / Dog Bites / Animals / Pets , Homeowner's Insurance / Injuries at a Home , Medical Care & Health Issues

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Christopher Bizilj, an eight year old from Ashford, Connecticut, died as a result of an Uzi sub-machine gun accidental shooting at the Machine Gun Show and Firearms Expo at the Westfield, Massachusetts Sportsman's Club. Christopher's father had given permission for his son to handle the gun prior to the incident. It is interesting to note that the father, Charles Bizilj, is the Director of Emergency Medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Connecticut. As such, it would appear that Dr. Bizilj has seen his fair share of gun shot wounds and injuries - both intentional and accidental type of shootings.

While Christopher was shooting the Uzi, it recoiled, he lost control, and then accidentally shot himself in the head. This is a true tragic course of events for the Bizilj Family and all involved with the incident.

The shooting shows the importance of gun safety and the dangers of putting a high powered weapon into the hands of an eight year old.

Massachusetts is a comparative fault state when dealing with negligence cases. In other words, a victim and / or the victim's family can collect compensation for injuries or death even if the victim or someone else was negligent as well. The amount of recovery or compensation is reduced by the amount of negligence on the part of a victim or a third party.

Jerry Belair, a spokesman with Stop Handgun Violence, a non-profit organization based in Newton, Massachusetts, noted that the Uzi is used in battlefields and that "it's not a toy. It's not something to play with."

In this instance, it is arguable that the father was negligent in allowing his son to fire the Uzi; however, it would appear that the gun show promoters, organizers, and instructor had superior knowledge to that of Christopher and his father, who practices medicine but probably does not hold himself out as a firearms expert or instructor.

In my opinion, the demonstration involving putting an Uzi in the hands of an eight year old put this child at unreasonable and unnecessary danger which in turn caused the untimely and tragic death of an eight year old boy. You can read more about this story at Boy Accidentally Shoots Himself with Uzi at Massachusetts Gun Show.

Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer, David Goldman who writes the NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog has an analysis of the violations of the NFA that occur when a child is allowed to use a Machine Gun. David Goldman also suggests how a NFA Firearms Trust can provide asset protection for owners of Class 3 weapons and firearms in general. Whether a person, business or trust owns a gun, safety is key to protecting yourself, children, and anybody within firing distance of a gun.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Gun & Firearm Safety and Injuries , Wrongful Death

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The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles launched a web site at www.TakeTheWheel.net The web site contains information, video, stories, and advice from other teens on teen driving. Distracted driving, speeding, and other safety topics are covered by teens. The purpose of the site is to help educate teens and create awareness of both the responsibilities and dangers of teen driving. I believe that the Peer to Peer approach may help "drive home" the safety tips and issues on the web site. Have your teen go to the web site and take in the advice.

Automobile accidents and trucking accidents often times involve an inexperienced teen driver. Hopefully, web sites like www.TakeTheWheel.net will get the message through to teens about the importance of safe driving. Negligent teen driving leads to thousands of accidents and injuries a year. In 2007, over 400 people died in an accident where a teen was driving.

We should all encourage teens and others to think about the safety of the themselves and others on Florida roadways.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Education , School Safety

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Calendar wise - summer is over by the end of August / beginning of September. Even though summer is officially over, the heat continues for most of the fall in many Southern and Western States like Florida and Arizona. Maya Peabody, a 2 year old,died recently in Arizona. Apparently, the family took several vehicles to breakfast and then returned home later that day. One of the children, age 2, was left in the car by accident. A few hours later, the family discovered that the 2 year old was left in the car. The family rushed the child to a local hospital where the child was pronounced dead. The local department of welfare, children, and families along with the local police department will conduct an investigation to determine if criminal charges will be brought against any of the family members for child neglect.

Parents, grandparents, caregivers, counselors, and teachers should be diligent in removing children from unattended cars especially when there are extreme temperatures. Whether it is the summer, winter, or any other time of year, always make sure that your children are safely removed from a vehicle to avoid child injuries and death. You can read more about the Maya Peabody tragedy at Child Dies After Being Left in a Car in Arizona.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Abuse & Neglect , Child Safety , Crimes Against Children , Wrongful Death

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Florida Statute Section 402.305 sets forth the Licensing Standards for day care / child care facilities in the State of Florida including standards for Staff to Children Ratios. Under Section 402.305 (4), Florida Statutes, a day care / child care facility must have staffing as follows:

1. One child care worker for every four children (ages birth through 1 year of age);

2. One child care worker for every six children (ages 1 year and under 2 years of age); and

3. One child care worker for every 11 children (2 years of age and under 3 years of age).

The staffing requirements continue forward for different age groups through ages 5 years of age and older - the Staff to Children Ratio is one child care worker for every 25 students. There are exemptions to this general rule.

Staffing standards are important because they help promote minimum staffing for the health, safety, and welfare of the children. In the day care / child care setting, the children need supervision and guidance. Having a facility properly staffed with trained and conscientious child care personnel is vital to helping prevent serious child injuries.

Posted by David A. Wolf | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Safety , Day Care Centers and Child Care , Education , School Safety

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