North Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Eating out is typically an enjoyable time spent with friends or family. However, a dining experience in a Palm Harbor, Florida, restaurant was not so enjoyable for four diners who were burned by bananas foster. In fact, one woman sustained severe personal injuries. According to officials with Palm Harbor Fire Rescue, the 151 alcohol that is poured into the dessert ignited during a Saturday night outing and onto four customers. One victim was a 25-year-old woman who was taken to a nearby hospital after she sustained first- and second-degree burns. Another victim, a 56-year-old woman was also transported to a hospital after she sustained respiratory burns. The other two victims refused medical treatment. The incident occurred at the Ozona Blue Grill in Palm Harbor, an area northwest of Tampa. According to the restaurant's website, the restaurant serves seafood and steaks with an Asian twist. For more read Victims burned by bananas foster while dining in Palm Harbor, Florida, restaurant.

Although accidents do happen, you can never take too many safety precautions, especially in a restaurant environment. Hot cookware and entrées, sharp silverware, slippery floors, these are just some of the dangers that exist in a restaurant. Restaurant owners, managers, servers and other employees should do their best at keeping a safe environment for their customers.

Summer time is here which means it is a popular time for Jacksonville and North Florida families to plan backyard barbecues and pool parties. As such, many people in Florida and nationwide will end up taking unexpected trips to the ER; nearly half of all unintentional child injury related deaths occur in June, July and August. Underwriter Laboratories (UL) is an independent non-profit global safety organization that is urging families to make backyard safety a priority this summer.

Following are a few unsettling statistics:
-Each summer an estimated 2.7 million children visit the ER due to injuries around the pool or backyard
-Barbecue grill fires resulted in 7,900 home fires for each year between 2003 and 2006
-Each year 200,000children under 14 go to the ER for play set-related injuries
-For those families that have swimming pools, 4,200people every year visit the ER with pool or spa-related injuries
-Unfortunately 10 people die each day from drowning in the United States.

In light of these statistics, UL recommends that families visit The Backyard Safety Explorer to test the safety of their outdoor space before allowing the kids to play in the yard.

The UL has also provided safety tips for grilling, pool and playground safety:

Grilling Safety
• Keep grills at a safe distance from any structure. Grilling mishaps cause more than 8,300 fires and send 3,000 people to the emergency room each year. Never grill indoors or near garages or porches, even if it’s raining.
• Never leave the grill unattended, especially when young children or pets are nearby.
• Have a spray bottle or fire extinguisher close to the grill to put out the fire, should one occur.

Pool Safety
• If you have a pool at home, install a fence. The fence should be at least four-feet high and have a self-closing, self-latching gate that has a locking mechanism beyond a child's reach.
• Supervision is a must. Follow the 10/20 rule when you’re at the pool. The 10/20 rule states the supervising adult needs to position themselves to be able to scan the pool within 10 seconds and reach the water within 20 seconds
• Flotation devices, toys and inflatable swimming aids are not safety devices. They are toys and can easily puncture and deflate.
• Empty small wading pools after children are done playing and remove all toys. Infants can drown in just a few inches of water. Pool toys may attract children to the pool when it is unattended.

Playground Safety
• Carefully inspect backyard playground equipment. Make sure equipment is anchored safely in the ground, all equipment pieces are in good working order, S-hooks are entirely closed, and bolts are not protruding.
• Check for spaces that could trap children like openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs. These spaces should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
• Install protective surfacing, such as rubber tiles or mulch under the play set, at least six feet in all directions, to prevent serious injuries should a child fall.

For more information on this topic, see tips to stay safe during backyard BBQs and pool parties

National Burn Awareness Week just ended Saturday, February 12. During this time, emergency officials urged homeowners to use the event to prevent fire-related injuries. Focus was especially put on those families with children. According to Ken Murphy, FEMA Regional Administrator, children under the age of 5-years-old account for 52% of all child fire-related deaths. During the winter months the rate of house fires tend to spike, placing children and toddlers at an even greater risk, Murphy also mentioned. FEMA reports that fires personally injure approximately 18,300 Americans annually, of that amount 3,500 are fatal. Children 14-years-old and younger make of 10-15% of all fire-related deaths. Children account for such a high number of fire-related fatalities most of them are unaware of how to escape their home in the event of a fire.

FEMA offered the following tips to keep children safe and how to prevent fires:
- In the kitchen, keep children 3-years-old and younger away from the stove and other hot appliances. When pots are on the stove, use the back burners. When using pots with handles, turn the handle towards the back of the stove.
- Inspect fireplace flues and chimneys for leakage and blockage.
- If using space heaters in a home, place them on a level floor. Do not place spear heaters on rugs or carpet and keep them at least 3 feet from all bedding, drapes, furniture and other flammable materials.
- Always tuck appliance cords in a space that cannot be reached by children.
- Test smoke alarms one per month. Replace the batters at least one per year.

For more information and tips please see Fire Prevention Tips for the Home.

Orlando officials are investigating a fire that killed one person and sent two other victims to the hospital. The fire broke out at Harbor Beach Condominiums in Orange County, Florida near Lake Margaret Drive. Of the two victims treatedin the hospital, one was treated for smoke inhalation and the other for a psychological condition. Officials are not releasing the identity of the female victim who died in the fire until autopsy results are released. The woman, who was the the bedroom of her second-story apartment, is claimed to be drunk and asleep at the time the fire ignited. The woman's neighbor, Cristin Crismon and Crismon's boyfriend, who live across the hall, attempted to help the victim but the flames were too powerful to save her. It took firefighters ten minutes to put the fire out. Two apartments were affected by the fire, the one where the fire started and Crismon's apartment. The American Red Cross is providing aid to those families affected by the fire. The State Fire Marshal's Office is awaiting lab results to determine how the fire was started. For more details on this story please see One killed and 2 hospitalized after fire in Orlando apartment complex.

Although the cause of this fire has not yet been determined and it is difficult to say what events could have been prevented, all homes and apartments should have smoke detectors installed. The smoke detectors should be inspected frequently to ensure the devices are working properly; check the batteries monthly and change the batteries twice annually.

In Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding areas, 3 dozen fires in the past 3 weeks have been reported. These fires have caused families to be displaced from their homes all over the Northeast Florida region. Most recently, a family of 11 was displaced from their home after it burned down. Luckily one of the eight children smelled smoke in time to alert the family and everyone escaped to safety. The American Red Cross is assisting the family. In the Westside area of Jacksonville, Florida, a kitchen fire inflicted personal injuries onto a young boy. Also, in the Riverside area, a house fire displaced two adults living in the home.

The Red Cross has responded to 39 fires where families needed help, this averages out to approximately 2 fires per day, according to Christian Smith, spokeswoman for the Northeast Florida chapter. This should be a reminder for all families to follow the number one fire-prevention rule: install and maintain working smoke detectors. Tom Francis, spokesman for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, says a smoke detector reduces the likelihood of dying in a fire by one-half. If you would like to read more on this topic please see Jacksonville, Florida and other homes in the Northeast region experience home fires.

It is important to maintain working smoke detectors. The carbon monoxide in the smoke is highly poisonous, and if too much is inhaled can knock children and adults unconscious. That is why so many people are unable to escape home fires because the smoke incapacitates them.

Five teenage males were found dead in a South Florida hotel, the teenagers were reported to have died by carbon monoxide poisoning. The bodies were identified as Juchen C. Martial, 19; Peterson Nazon, 17; Jonas Antenor, 17; Jean Pierre Ferdinand, 16; and Evans Charles, 19. The five men were described as very close friends and all lived within blocks of each other in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood. According to police, the boys purchased the hotel room so they could celebrate Juchen Martial's nineteenth birthday. Friends of the teens told police the car had engine trouble in the past, therefore, they probably left the car running overnight so they would not be stuck without a ride at checkout time.

The medical examiner determined the cause of the death to be carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities were called by a maid who looked through the window of the hotel room and found the boys unconscious; she called out to them but they were unresponsive. In the maid's call to 9-1-1 she stated the room had a strong smell of gasoline, one she described as an "awful stench." The car was found running in a garage located underneath the hotel room. A door in the staircase leading up to the hotel room was left open, which let the high levels of carbon monoxide inside the room. No drugs, alcohol or other signs of foul play were found by police. Two of the boys were found lying on the bed and the other three were found seated on the floor with fast food bags in their laps. A tragic sight and ending to five lives that were described by the families as "good boys." If you would like to read more on this story please see 5 teenage boys found dead in South Florida hotel.

Due to the fact carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries. The most common types of symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and signs of increased weakness. In infants, common symptoms include irritability and poor feeding. Confusing, disorientation, visual impairment and seizures are also other types of symptoms.

In Citra, Florida, it was reported that five children recently died in a house fire of a small wooden home. The incident is being investigated by the Florida State Fire Marshall's Office. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time but possible causes of the fire may include cigarettes, a space heater and other items. Now that the cold or cooler weather has returned to many parts of Florida - the risk or dangers of fire increase with the use of space heaters and fire places. It was reported that there was a smoke alarm in place but it was not working. Stories like these show the importance of fire safety. Check smoke alarms on a periodic basis and replace batteries as needed.

Of course, some fires are unpredictable and unpreventable. Others are preventable with good safety measures and maintenance of the home. You can read more about this story at Fire in Citra Leads to Death of 5 Children.

A Good Samaritan from Jacksonville, Florida was tragically killed by electric shock after he touched power lines that had been downed by a motorist the Good Samaritan was trying to help. The motorist was a 19-year-old woman. The accident occurred during the morning when the woman swerved to miss a deer causing her to strike a power pole, splitting the pole in half. The power pole was carrying more than 14,400 volts of electricity.

The Good Samaritan, identified as David Katterhenry, 52, stopped to help the motorist and was electrocuted as he approached the vehicle. Katterhenry's girlfriend was a passenger in his car, she was uninjured. According to Katterhenry's sister, in a discussion with police, the woman motorist was calling out to Katterhenry to help her out of the vehicle. As Katterhenry was approaching the car, he stepped over one power line but then touched another one. Katterhenry had one son and was an engineer at Vistakon. If you would like to read more on this story please see Jacksonville, Florida Good Samaritan killed by electric shock.

The death of this man is a tragedy for his family and his community. Drivers on Florida roadways need to take extra precautions. If you observe an accident or collision on Florida roadways, contact authorities immediately. The sooner local authorities as well as emergency and fire rescue units arrive, the better and safer for all parties involved. If the drivers in the accident or collision are responsive remind them to remain calm and that help is on the way.