Swimming Pool Accident Attorney in Decatur and Huntsville AL
We can help you in Madison, Morgan, Lawrence and Limestone Counties and the surrounding areas.
Swimming pool accidents can be devastating to a family. One moment, everything seems fine, the next moment your child is fighting for their life or has even become a victim of drowning. During the hot summer days, many of us enjoy taking advantage of public and private swimming pools without paying any attention to the obvious dangers a pool can present. A day in the sun at a pool which has turned tragic for a family cannot be fully understood by others. There are few more terrible and deadly accidents than those that involve water.
It does not matter whether they take place at a homeowner’s association pool, private residence, or a apartment pool, pool accidents can leave families and friends wondering what went wrong. Randy W. Ferguson has an extensive history of representing pool accident victims and their family members in Alabama. The Law Firm of Ferguson and Ferguson has more than 45 years of combined experience representing drowning victims.
Swimming Pool Regulations
Swimming pool accident nightmares happen too often when pool safety regulations are not conscientiously followed and the Virginia Graeme Baker Act is violated. Public swimming pools in Alabama must be in compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The act provides pool and spa drain cover standards and other minimum required standards. Pool accidents can leave victims, especially younger children, with such catastrophic injuries that their lives and those of their family will be forever changed. Huntsville and Decatur drowning accidents come about in private pools, hotels, motels, parks, water parks, and other locations when supervision fails in their duty, or when faulty gates, drains or other hazards endanger a swimmer or a child who has entered an area that should have been restricted. When the victim does survive, their lives are often changed forever, as underwater accidents frequently result in brain damage due to the lack of oxygen suffered in the incident. Many of these Huntsville accidents are the result of negligence and when this is the case, it is necessary to seek a Huntsville drowning accident lawyer to address the legal matters of the claim or lawsuit.
Lawyers Helping Swimming Pool Accident & Drowning Victims
Seeking compensation after a tragic drowning accident requires the skill of a Decatur or Huntsville, Alabama personal injury lawyer with extensive experience in filing a lawsuit or claim against the individual or entity that did not uphold their duty whether in maintenance, supervision or other aspect of the case. Sadly, a high percentage of these heartbreaking cases involve young children, and parents and families suffer unimaginable grief when they have lost a loved one or their child suffers permanent injury. Huntsville attorney Randy W. Ferguson has spent his career protecting the rights of the injured and their families to compensation after drowning accident cases or other types of personal injury accidents.
We can assist the families or the injured individual in the legal process in all types of drowning cases, including
- Near drowning
- Summer camp drowning
- Pool accidents
- Beach accidents
- Child drowning accidents
- Water park or hotel drowning
- Apartment pool drowning
Common Causes of Huntsville Drowning Accidents
- Lack of or damaged pool ladders preventing easy exit
- Non-working pool lights
- Missing safety equipment such as throwing ropes with attached buoys and Shepherds hooks
- Unclear or murky water
- Infrequent or inadequate pool upkeep
- Overcrowded pool
- Untrained, too few or negligent lifeguards
- Pool security fence in disrepair
- Defective self closing and self latching gates
- Swimming pool drain cover accidents
- Pool operator negligence
- Boating accidents
- Spa accidents
- Depth markers are insufficient or absent.
- Swimming pool not filled in accordance with depth markers.
- Baby sitter or homeowner negligence.
- Lifeguard negligence.
- Missing safety lines separating the shallow and deep ends of the pool
Swimming Pool Accident Statistics
Centers for Disease Control reports about 10 people a day die as a result of drowning accidents. About 3,500 drown while swimming, and another 350 die from drowning as a result of boating accidents. It is estimated that it takes less than 5 minutes and under 2 inches of water for a child to drown. And every year there are hundreds of Alabama adults that suffer serious injuries at either private or public swimming pools. Throughout the country, unfortunately, hundreds of children die each year in a pool related accident. It is estimated that most of these deaths occur to children under the age of 3. Further, hundreds of thousands of people are injured. When there is a swimming pool injury it is usually because there was either a faulty designed or constructed pool, or there were improper safe guards and security for the small children or the pool was improperly maintained. Injuries can range from the not so serious taking in too much water while swimming, to improper chemicals or chemical maintenance in the pool, to more serious contusions, broken bones or more serious injuries such as paralyzation or coma.
The drowning rate for children under sixteen (16) was alarming and was actually twenty five (25%) percent of the total of all drowning accident deaths in the United States. According to the CDC, approximately three hundred and fifty (350) children five (5) years of age and under, suffer death from drowning accidents every year. Drowning injury, such as death and coma, is the second highest cause of fatalities for the children five (5) years and under age group. Of all preschoolers who are victims of a swimming pool drowning, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less. Automobile and truck accidents are the second highest cause of death accident in this age group. At least five thousand (5,000) additional small children suffer permanent injury like nerve damage requiring future medical care and treatment and expensive in house care or hospitalization for the permanent neurological disability.
Consult with a Decatur or Huntsville Alabama Drowning Attorney
The owner of the private pool or public pool does have responsibility. If you have been injured in a swimming pool accident, you should immediately contact Huntsville attorney Randy W. Ferguson to assist you. We will assist you in getting the homeowner’s insurance information or the public facility or private facility’s insurance information so that medical bills do not over burden you. Our firm is here to help you recover lost damages after an accident has occurred on another person’s property, such as a public pool, in which a breach of duty or a negligent act has occurred. If your child was injured on another individual’s property, you may be able to help prove that negligence caused the accident with the help of a seasoned Alabama drowning lawyer. If you have lost a child due to a drowning accident, do not wait another minute longer to call our firm. We have dedicated our careers to helping families just like yours get back on their feet after an accident has traumatically altered their life. We understand that no amounts of money will ever being back your loved one, but we are committed to ensuring that justice is sought and the negligent party is held responsible. To learn more about our firm and how we are ready to help, call our Huntsville or Decatur office today. We are also available 24/7 to visit you at Huntsville Hospital, Decatur General Hospital, Crestwood Medical Center or Parkway Medical Center. Call now. Call 256-534-3435 or 256-350-7200.
Huntsville Office Location:
303 Williams Avenue SW
Suite 321
Huntsville, AL 35801
Decatur Office Location:
211 Oak Street
Decatur, AL 35601
Our swimming pool injury attorneys serve every city and county in the State of Alabama.