Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

On a beautiful day like today, there is nothing better than being outside with your family, visiting a park or a playground. Of course, you must try to keep an eye out for safety hazards that could lead to serious injuries or death. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that each year in the U.S., emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries.

Safe Kids USA provides the following playground safety tips:

- Avoid playgrounds with asphalt, concrete, grass, dirt and soil surfaces under the equipment. Instead, visit playgrounds with sand, gravel, wood chips, mulch or shredded rubber under playground equipment.

- If there are any hazards in a public or backyard playground, report or fix them immediately and do not allow children to use the equipment until it is safe.

- Prevent unsafe behaviors like pushing, shoving, crowding and inappropriate use of equipment.

- Ensure that children use age-appropriate equipment.

- Remove hoods and neck drawstrings from children’s outerwear. Never allow children to wear helmets, necklaces, purses, scarves or clothing with drawstrings while on playgrounds.

If you or someone you know was injuried at a playground due to the negligence of another, please fill out the consultation form or call us at (312) 676-7222. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll will consider your particular situation and help you decide whether to file a personal injury.

School bus drivers are responsible for transporting our precious cargo every day. School bus companies should ensure that their drivers are fully trained and capable of performing their job.

Jeffrey J. Kroll, was quoted in a April 2010 School Transportation News article titled, "The Cost of Hiring the Wrong Bus Driver." The article focuses on the costs associated with hiring ill-trained bus drivers, such as injury to students and others, increased liability and dissatisfaction among the school community. Jeff emphasized the need to fully train and properly select drivers to ensure that they are operating and managing the bus safely. Further, if there are any concerns, get rid of the driver.

Continue reading "SCHOOL BUS LIABILITY ATTORNEY URGES BUS COMPANIES TO ENSURE THAT THEY HIRE AND RETAIN SAFE DRIVERS" »

Today, a school bus driver was charged with sexually assaulting a mentally challenged student before driving her home on March 24, 2009. The school bus driver, Antonio Ross, was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail this afternoon. The victim, who was 17 at the time, was a student at South Central High School.

Ross is an employee of Jewel’s Bus Company, which is headquartered at 1035 W. 111th St. in Chicago.

In our society, we entrust our children to school bus drivers, teachers, coaches and other adults. We trust that these individuals will care for and respect our kids. This intentional act of violence by a person who was in a position to provide safety to children is devastating. More extensive investigation and background checks of bus driver employees should be conducted before allowing them access to operate a school bus.

School children in Chicago and throughout the country may be at risk in certain school buses equipped with unsafe materials. Nearly 2,000 unsafe school buses, which are primarily used to transport disabled children, are out on the road, despite the knowledge of the problem. Some problems include seat backs that fail to meet strength requirements and seat belt anchors that may also detach from the floor or wall.

After involvement from the National Highway Safety Transportation Authority (NHTSA), a New York company named Transportation Collaborative Inc. (TCI) agreed to notify customers this month that the small buses have parts that must be recalled. TCI alleges that a different company, U.S. Bus Inc., is to blame for manufacturing the faulty bus parts, which were sold from 2001 to 2007. NHTSA officials maintain that TCI and U.S. Bus are essentially the same company with different names.

Continue reading "UNSAFE SCHOOL BUSES ON THE ROAD" »

Spinal cord trauma, paralysis, concussion, traumatic brain injury, headaches and head trauma are all types of injuries caused by cheerleading accidents listed in the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Data Tables. The data was collected between the Fall of 1982 and the Spring of 1998 and contains summaries of the injuries. While the report contains many guidelines and suggestions for improving cheerleading safety, the sad statistic is that cheerleading injuries resulting in hospital emergency room visits have increased to nearly 30,000 in 2008, which is almost six times the number of injuries in 1980, according to the Chicago Tribune who cited a report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Continue reading "CHEERLEADING INJURIES ON THE RISE: CHICAGO SPORTS INJURY ATTORNEY URGES IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY MEASURES AND TRAINING" »

The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County, along with attorney, Steven Greenberger, on behalf of Plaintiff, Dennis Connolly, as Father and Next Friend of Christopher Connolly, a Minor, on Monday, August 17th.

Christopher Connolly suffered a life-altering injury on February 28, 2007 due to an unfortunate series of events, including allegations of hazing, which were all under the control of Defendant, St. Ignatius College Prep. As a first-year student at St. Ignatius College Prep, Connolly was participating in junior varsity water polo practice when several St. Ignatius students allegedly threw pool equipment and snowballs at him at a St. Ignatius coach's direction. Another agent of St. Ignatius told Connolly to "get in" the pool as they were throwing the objects at him. Connolly dove into the pool, collided with the bottom, and is now a quadriplegic. Prior to this incident, Connolly had been nicknamed "Flounder" by his swim team coach, which was intended to be a derogatory nickname.

The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll have successfully handled spinal cord injury cases and sports injury claims, including a $12.5 million dollar settlement for a 17-year-old football player who was rendered a quadriplegic when he came into contact with a metal pole adjacent to a football practice field.

Athletic facilities should provide safe, functional equipment and can be liable if a patron is injured on their premises. Organizations, teams or individuals can similarly be liable should an athlete be injured on a playing field, court or arena.

For more on this story, please see the following links:
St. Ignatius Sued for Student Pool Injury
Family Sues St. Ignatius Over Hazing Incident
Paralyzed teen's parents sue Chicago school over alleged hazing
Click here to view the complaint.

Cheerleading causes more serious injuries than other sports.

Researchers have long known how dangerous cheerleading is, but historically, records were poorly kept. An update to the record-keeping system last year found that between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading. The next most dangerous sports: gymnastics (nine such injuries) and track (seven).

Recently, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released its 26th annual report on the topic. The latest figures are from the 2007-2008 academic year for college and high school sports, male and female. The report defines catastrophic injuries as any severe or fatal injury incurred during participation in the sport.

The new numbers are for the 26-year period from the fall of 1982 through the spring of 2008:

- There were 1,116 direct catastrophic injuries in high school (905) and college sports (211).
- High school sports were associated with 152 fatalities, 379 non-fatal injuries and 374 serious injuries. College sports accounted for 22 fatalities, 63 non-fatal injuries and 126 serious injuries.
- Cheerleading accounted for 65.2 percent of high school and 70.5 percent of college catastrophic injuries among all female sports.

Fortunately, the number of cheerleading injuries fell slightly in the 2007-08 academic year. Hopefully, an increase in awareness and safety measures will continue to decrease the number of injuries related to cheerleaders and high school and college athletes, in general.

Continue reading "CHICAGO SPORTS INJURY ATTORNEY CAUTIONS CHEERLEADERS TO INCREASE SAFETY IN THEIR SPORT" »

I remember watching the news and learning of the tragic death of actress, Natasha Richardson. After hearing of her death, I kept asking myself the same question: do all head injuries need medical attention, even ones that seem minor?

In most cases, it is pretty clear when someone needs medical attention after a head injury. They are often confused, they are extremely agitated. They may be dizzy. Some could have even been unresponsive. The scarier scenario is what doctors call the “talk and die” scenario, where someone seems fine, only to die hours or days later. The "talk and die" scenario occurs with various kinds of brain injuries. In the case of epidermal hematomas, blood pools in the area between the lining of the brain and the skull. This fluid continues to build up in a contained space, creating pressure. In that scenario, essentially, something has to give. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the brain. If you do not get that person to the hospital immediately to have the appropriate surgery to drain the fluid, it will most likely be fatal. So what should be done for someone suffering from a head injury?

1. Look for dizziness, vomiting, confusion or headaches. If an injured person has one of these signs, take them to the emergency room.

2. Look for changes in the person’s behavior. If a person suddenly becomes sleepy within the first 8 to 12 hours following trauma to the head, it may mean that parts of the brain responsible for staying awake are experiencing pressure from a bleed.

3. Vigilance. Keep an eye on someone that has hit their head. This is especially true even if they have not lost consciousness.

4. Be on alert if someone has been drinking, is elderly or young. It could be difficult to distinguish brain-injured behavior from drunken behavior. Similarly, you need to be extra vigilant when dealing with an elderly person or young athletes.

5. Go to an emergency room. You want to go to a trauma center that has a neurosurgeon present or on call. One can find this out by looking on the map from the American Trauma Society.

When in doubt, err on the side of being conservative and seek treatment.

Continue reading "CHICAGO ACCIDENT LAWYER ANSWERS THE QUESTION: WHEN SHOULD YOU GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM " »

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is on the rise among children. MRSA used to be primarily contracted in a hospital setting; however, now its prevalence is on the rise in community-based settings. Nationwide Trends in Pediatric Staphylococcus aureus Head and Neck Infections, a study published in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, shows that from January 2001 to December 2006 there was a 16.3 percent increase in the percentage of resistance for all pediatric head and neck S. aureus infections.

Good hygiene helps reduce the spread of infection. Suggestions include:

• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

• Cuts and scrapes should be cleaned and covered with a bandage until they heal.

• Avoid contact with other people's wounds.

• Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or, for older teens and adults, razors

Research shows that the number of cases is increasing at alarming rates. Part of the problem is an increased resistance to the antibiotics used to treat MRSA. Doctors are also recognizing and testing for MRSA more often.

The infection usually starts with red bumps resembling pimples. The site can become swollen.

A 10-year old boy died after he was found hanging from a hook in a bathroom at his school in the Evanston/Skokie School District. School officials have not given his mother an explanation for what they have described as an accident.

The fifth grade student was found unresponsive and hanging from a hook in a bathroom at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday. He died Wednesday morning at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Police and school officials have provided little information, but autopsy results were expected this afternoon.

My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of this young boy. This is a devastating tragedy. As one school board member noted, "No one anticipates the death of their child when they send their kid to school." This horrific accident likely could have been prevented and it is my hope that nothing like this will ever happen again in the future.

Continue reading "ILLINOIS BOY DIES AFTER BEING FOUND HANGING IN SCHOOL BATHROOM" »

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held Tuesday that high school cheerleading is a contact sport, meaning its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries. This ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought by a former high school cheerleader who sued a teammate for failing to stop her fall while practicing a stunt. The varsity cheerleader fell backward off the shoulders of another cheerleader and suffered a serious head injury. As a consequence of this ruling, the injured former cheerleader can sue neither the teammate, nor the school district.

The primary issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under Wisconsin state law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries. The law does not specify which sports are "contact sports." The Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that cheerleading did not qualify as a contact sport since there is no contact between opposing teams. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, disagreed and unanimously decided to overturn the Court of Appeals decision, reasoning that there is a significant amount of phsyical contact between the cheerleaders themselves.

This ruling, which is applicable to Wisconsin residents only, is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good in that it protects students and school districts from facing lawsuits for accidental injuries. This means that students (and their parents) can play sports without fear that they might get sued if they accidentally break someone's arm in a basketball game or injure someone on the football field. It is bad in that it leaves the injured student with potentially no recourse. For families in a financial bind, medical bills that mount up could mean financial ruin. Immunity laws are in place to serve the greater good, but unfortunately at the expense of someone who has been injured.

Continue reading "WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RULES CHEERLEADING A CONTACT SPORT" »

On every level, it seems that the current economy is wreaking havoc on consumers. The latest cuts include busing services for students. Now, it is our children who will suffer the consequences of this latest cost-cutting measure.

The reduction of school bus service means more danger on the roadways and potentially higher risks for students walking home from school. In a report on CNN, Mac Dashney, a consultant with the Pupil Transportation and Management Institute opines that for every bus that you take off the road, which would normally carry between 65 and 77 passengers, you are adding 30 to 40 more cars on the road.

A 2007 Congressional report outlined the risks of taking children off of school buses. The report states that 12.5 million students took 5.5 billion school bus trip between 1995 and 2005. Of those trips, there were 1,368 fatal crashes, 97 of which involved a bus driver or bus passenger. Conversely, the death toll among student who attend school by other means was 40 times higher.

In addition to an increased risk of being involved in a car crash, there is an increased risk for students who are walking home from school. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), child pedestrians are at higher risk for injuries than adults for several reasons:
kids' smaller size make them more difficult for drivers to see, kids have less ability to judge distances and speeds and kids have less understanding of traffic rules and the right-of-way.

Student safety should be the top priority. Dashney says that options for saving money on transportation without cutting service include privatizing bus service, renegotiating contracts, increasing property taxes and charging parents for bus service.

Continue reading "SCHOOL BUS SERVICE CUTS COULD LEAD TO MORE DEATHS" »

A judge in Huntley, IL has found school bus driver, Julieta Clinton, guilty of reckless conduct and child endangerment after she intentionally slammed on the brakes to throw children from their seats. Ms. Clinton entered a plea deal in which she did not admit guilt. She could face up to a year in prison when she is sentenced on April 3, 2009.

McHenry County prosecutors say Clinton was driving 54 youngsters, ranging in age from 5 to 10, to school last April when she became frustrated with their alleged unruly behavior and braked hard twice. One youngster was treated at a hospital and 18 others were treated at the scene.

Continue reading "MCHENRY COUNTY BUS DRIVER GUILTY OF RECKLESS CONDUCT" »

The threat of nut allergies has lead many schools to put precautions into place to protect students from potential harm. Unfortunately, a doctor from Harvard believes that the measures amount to “epidemic hysteria.” Dr. Nicholas Christakis recently published an article entitled “This Allergy Hysteria is Just Nuts,” BMJ 2008; 337. According to Dr. Christakis, the threat of a nut allergy has created a “cascade of anxiety” in otherwise healthy people prompted by fears of contamination. He believes that the nut allergy is also fueling anxiety among parents. Unfortunately, Dr. Christakis beliefs and opinions could not be further from the truth.

Over 3 million Americans are allergic to peanuts or tree nuts. Over two thousand children and adults are hospitalized due to nut allergies. One hundred fifty people die from food allergies each year.

Guidelines issued by the National School Boards Association, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and the National Association of School Nurses do outline steps that parents and schools can take to reduce the risk of serious allergic reactions... and death.

In the fall of 2002, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued guidelines for schools to provide children with life-threatening food allergies a quality education in a safe environment. It is important for schools to take this issue seriously.

First, parents should:

• Notify the school about a child’s food allergies;
• Provide written medical documentation of the allergies to the school;
• Provide medications and replenish them as often as necessary;
• Educate their child about safe and unsafe foods; and
• Review procedures with school staff, the school nurse and the child in the event of a
reaction.

A school must do the following:

• Create a food allergy action plan;
• Be aware and follow applicable laws addressing food allergies;
• Review health records of allergic students;
• Create a team to establish a prevention plan;
• Ensure that all medications are stored properly;
• Educate all individuals who will come into contact with the child about food allergies; and
• Enforce a “no eating” peanuts or tree nuts policy on school buses.

Despite such a clear and obvious plan, a recent study suggested that food allergy action plans may be lacking in many schools. In a survey of elementary and middle school nurses in Greenville, South Carolina, forty percent (40%) did not have an food allergy action plans for at least half of their allergic students.

If one were to listen to Dr. Christakis, the nut allergy in students is far-fetched and is creating some type of anxiety in our society. Is it far-fetched? Is it ridiculous? I do not think so. In fact, ask a family member of one of the 150 people who died from a food allergy or one of the parents of a child that was afflicted with a nut allergy and hospitalized, whether their concerns are far-fetched... I doubt it.

Continue reading "SCHOOLS FACE POTENTIAL LIABILITY FOR NUT ALLERGIES" »