Drownings

Cincinnati Drowning Injury Lawyers

Pursuing Justice After Someone Else’s Actions Led to You or Your Loved One’s Drowning Injury or Death

Drowning is a complicated and heartbreaking subject, but one that should be publicly discussed. According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of one and four and the second leading cause of death for children between the ages of 5 and 14 (first being car crashes).

There are a variety of potential scenarios where these tragedies can occur. In cases where a child is left unattended in the bath or they fall into their home’s pool, there is no third party to hold liable. Some insurance policies may cover family member injuries if the policyholder’s negligence led to the injury, but in many cases, policies have explicit exclusions to prevent liability claims for members of a household or residents.

Common scenarios in which a third party may be liable for drowning injuries or deaths in Cincinnati include:

Negligent supervision: In cases involving children, daycare providers, schools or other caregivers might be held responsible if their failure to provide adequate supervision leads to a child’s drowning injury or death.

Inadequate lifeguarding: Management at public or private swimming pools (city or municipal pools, private club pools, etc.) or operators might be held liable if they fail to provide a reasonable number of qualified lifeguards or if the lifeguards on duty fail to perform their duties properly, leading to a drowning incident.

Defective pool equipment: Manufacturers or sellers of pool equipment might be held responsible if a defect in their product, such as a faulty drain cover or pool gate, contributes to a drowning accident.

Premises liability: Property owners, including private homeowners and commercial establishments, could be held responsible for drowning incidents that occur on their premises if they fail to maintain a safe environment. A common example is not providing proper fencing or barriers around a pool, not posting warning signs or not addressing other hazards that could lead to drowning (like improperly secured pool covers).

Boating accidents: In boating accidents, the boat owner or operator might be held liable if their negligence, such as operating the boat while intoxicated or not providing adequate safety equipment, leads to a drowning incident. Other boat owners or operators who cause a watercraft crash may also be liable for drowning deaths or injuries resulting from their actions.

Public entities: In some cases, a government agency or public entity could be held liable for drowning incidents that occur on public property, such as a beach, if they fail to adequately maintain the property or warn of known dangers. Factors like sovereign immunity or assumption of risk may make it difficult to hold local municipal governments for injuries sustained from activities like cliff jumping, but it may still be worth your time to discuss your specific situation with a personal injury lawyer.

The Tragic Aftermath of Drowning Injuries

The human body is profoundly resilient in a lot of respects – especially children. The one organ that’s most prone to injury – the brain – is particularly vulnerable in drowning incidents. It doesn’t take long for an oxygen-deprived brain (hypoxia or ischemia) to begin suffering potentially permanent damage.

Common cognitive impairments after drowning include memory problems, difficulty concentrating and learning disabilities. In severe cases, it can lead to a persistent vegetative state or coma. In addition to those cognitive damages, drowning survivors can suffer a variety of neurological complications like seizures, muscle weakness or even long-term movement disorders like spasticity, ataxia or dystonia.

Brain damage related to oxygen deprivation may damage parts of the brain responsible for various aspects of movement and body control, leading to challenges with coordination, balance and fine motor skills.

There are also the psychological traumas that are common after nearly any near-death or panic-inducing trauma, including conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and insomnia.

In somewhat rarer instances, drowning victims may experience sensory degradation like damaged auditory nerves resulting in hearing loss, or vision problems resulting from hypoxic-ischemic injuries suffered by the visual cortex.

Survivors of drowning incidents may also experience long-term respiratory issues such as aspiration pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or chronic lung disease. These problems can result from water or other foreign material entering the lungs during the incident.

The Challenges Facing Families After a Drowning

If a family member or your child suffers drowning injuries, you may be entitled to several types of damages, including:

• Emergency medical expenses
• Pain and suffering damages
• Lost wages if you’re forced to miss work to care for your child or yourself
• All types of rehabilitative costs
• Potentially long-term care expenses
• The cost of home modifications to accommodate a disability

Immediate medical treatment, such as resuscitation, oxygen therapy and medications, can be costly. This may also include the cost of emergency transportation to the hospital. Diagnostic tests, such as MRIs, CT scans and EEGs, may be required to assess the extent of the brain and organ damage and to guide treatment decisions.

Depending on the severity of the injury, a child may require an extended stay in the hospital, which can result in high medical bills. Intensive care unit (ICU) stays can be particularly expensive.

After a family member is released from the hospital, they’ll potentially face a variety of ancillary or permanent additional expenses. Children with severe brain damage or other complications may need ongoing medical care, including regular doctor visits, medications and medical equipment, such as ventilators, a feeding tube or mobility aids.

Having any family member with a disability generally forces families to make changes to their homes to accommodate someone with limited mobility, such as installing wheelchair ramps, modifying bathrooms or creating accessible living spaces.

If a child does have the potential to recover after a serious drowning, they still may need extensive physical, occupational and speech therapy to address any physical, cognitive or communication impairments or developmental challenges.

Children who have experienced a drowning injury may require special education services, individualized education plans (IEPs) and additional support in school to address their unique needs.

In these situations, a parent may need to permanently quit their job or reduce their working hours to care for their child, which will inevitably result in lost income – which is the last things families need after incurring all these extra expenses. Hiring caregivers or respite care services may allow parents to continue working somewhat normally but those may end up being even more financially taxing and carry a host of other challenges.