Los Angeles Personal Injury Law Blog

Swimming pools are hard to beat on a warm, sunny day. Although they are enjoyable, they also have the potential for danger. In addition to drowning, swimming pools are a cause of severe spinal cord injuries in the United States. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Center, between 3 percent and 5 percent of these spinal injuries have occurred because of swimming or diving accidents. They are part of the estimated 1.27 million people living with spinal cord injuries in the U.S.

Most diving accidents occur when divers meet the bottom of the pool or with their heads or their necks, resulting in broken vertebra and damaged or cut spinal cords. The result for many diving accidents results in the injured diver becoming a quadriplegic with minimal or no use of their legs and arms. In some accidents, divers have paraplegia, meaning they have some or all use of their arms.

A chemistry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles is being prosecuted for the 2008 death of a 23-year-old research assistant who died after suffering burns in a lab fire. He was arraigned on May 9. The professor faces up to 4 ½ years in prison if convicted of the felony charges, which relate to violating workplace safety standards. The charges are proceeding despite protests from the university that the fatal accident was just that, an accident.

According to a chemist who served as expert witness at a previous criminal court hearing, the fatal accident was preventable. The woman had a bachelor's degree in chemistry but had not worked with the chemical that killed her until she began her position at UCLA. He said she should have had training and received manufacturer's instructions on the chemical.

The U.S. is entering the peak season for amusement park injuries. In a recent study of injuries to children on amusement rides, more than 70 percent of injuries happened between May and September. On average, 20 children are taken to emergency rooms every day for amusement park injuries, the study found.

In total, the study found, more than 92,800 children were treated for injuries on amusement rides between 1990 and 2010. An official at the injury research center that completed the study said that the number of emergency room visits may require a closer look.

Burn injuries can be easily underestimated. When people receive cuts or other open wounds, their bodies do a good job of healing themselves. Burns, however, are different. Even burns that seem minor can require significant treatment.

In one recent case, a California fire chief was inspired to write about burn injuries after seeing colleagues burned while fighting fires. While fighting a house fire, the firefighter received second-degree burns when radiant heat soaked through his protective gear.

The firefighter was treated at the emergency room and released. Unexpectedly, he later had to spend four days in a burn unit to receive further treatment for his injuries.