Be Cool and Stay Safe this Winter: How to Keep your Kids Safe from Winter Head Injuries
Published
Winter is here and after a few mild weeks, we are finally feeling it in the Northeast. For families in Rhode Island and throughout New England, winter means days of snow-filled adventures and nights curled up with a mug of hot cocoa.
Those snowy, outdoor days often involve plenty of physical activity. Time spent outdoors in winter comes with the risk of injury, due to snow and ice and slick surfaces. Always supervise your children when playing outside in winter and make it a rule to observe winter safety precautions such as wearing warm layers and appropriate protective gear when playing winter sports.
Even when you make all the right safety choices, accidents like slips and falls on the sidewalk can happen. Prepare yourself and your children for this winter by familiarizing yourself with the hazards you could face, the safety precautions you should take to reduce your risk of being injured, and what to do if you are.
Common Winter Activities that May Cause Head Injuries
According to GoLocalProv, there are many winter activities that can cause an individual to sustain a head injury. Some examples of these activities include:
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Everyday activities become more dangerous during the winter as well, like driving and even walking down the street and across parking lots. Be wary of ice-covered driveways, sidewalks, and outdoor stairways. A walkway that is perfectly safe during the summer can become treacherous when covered with ice and snow.
[su_note note_color=”#f0f1f5″ radius=”0″]Helpful accident prevention tips from the Brain Injury Society include always making use of handrails when they are available and avoiding distractions like your smartphone when you are walking so that you watch where you are going.[/su_note]It is Cool to Wear a Helmet
One of the ways you can reduce your chances of being injured when playing a sport like hockey or riding a snowmobile is by wearing a helmet. According to HomeTownLife, 90 percent of head injuries could be prevented with a few winter safety precautions. One of the most important precautions is wearing an appropriate helmet.
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A helmet should fit properly and be designed for the sport your child plays. Do not send your child to play hockey in a football helmet, for example. Do not allow your child’s helmet to provide a false sense of security. If your child suffers an accident when playing, take your child to the doctor for a medical examination to be sure he or she has not suffered a concussion, which is often always apparent.
How to Spot a Concussion
Concussions can be difficult to spot largely because they do not have distinctive physical symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of a concussion include the following:
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A concussion is a mild type of traumatic brain injury. Usually, a concussion can be treated simply with rest. However, it is important that a doctor diagnose the individual’s condition after his or her accident and the victim follow the doctor’s instructions.
Who is Liable?
Who is liable for your damages after an accident depends on whose negligence caused the accident to occur. Negligence means a failure to observe one’s duty to protect the safety and welfare of others.
For example, drivers have the duty to obey posted traffic signals and avoid driving while drunk or distracted. A driver who causes a car accident because he or she was text messaging while driving is negligent and may be held liable for any victims’ damages, or expenses, that are a result of the negligence.
In cases other than winter driving accidents, the party who may be held liable for a victim’s injury is not always so clear-cut. For example, if an individual is injured on a ski slope. Skiing is a physical activity that comes with some assumed risks.
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Other scenarios where the negligent party might not be completely clear include a child’s injury during a school sport and injuries that occur at the school bus stop. If the school somehow failed to do its part to keep the child safe, it may be held liable for the child’s damages. This is also true if a bus stop injury was caused by a bus malfunction or bus driver negligence.
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Work with a Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney
When an injury occurs because of another party’s negligence, the victim could be entitled to monetary compensation through a personal injury claim. To learn more about seeking this type of compensation, contact our team of experienced personal injury attorneys at Marasco & Nesselbush, LLP to schedule your free legal consultation with our firm.