People can often drown in swimming pools if they are unattended and unsupervised or if they sustained another injury that knocked them out and made it impossible to resurface. While many people think of “drowning” as a fatal injury, many more people face injuries involving chest pain and potential brain injuries due to the lack of oxygen.
Whether you were injured in a drowning accident or lost a child or other family member, our attorneys can help you seek compensation. Swimming pool owners and operators are often responsible for these tragic accidents, especially when there were dangerous conditions, negligent supervision, or open swimming pools involved.
For a free analysis of your potential case, call our swimming pool drowning lawyers from The Reiff Law Firm today at (215) 709-6940.
Types of Drowning Injuries in Swimming Pool Accidents in Delco, PA
“Drowning” covers any situation where someone cannot breathe because they are underwater. This often means water fills your lungs, making it impossible to get any oxygen into your system and to your brain. While this often results in death if someone is drowning and does not get prompt care, prompt care can literally save their life. As such, there are many possible injuries a drowning victim could sue for, as well as the family’s ability to sue for drowning deaths.
Death
When the brain has no oxygen for a long enough period, there is nothing that can be done. In many cases, people who die from drowning retain some brain activity but not enough to ever regain consciousness. These “brain death” situations can result in expensive medical care and heart-breaking end-of-life decisions the family has to make if their loved one is in a coma after drowning.
Hypoxic/Anoxic Brain Injuries
Even if the person is resuscitated, they might still face lingering negative effects from having the flow of oxygen to the brain cut off for so long. These are considered brain injuries, but they are not “traumatic brain injuries” (TBIs), which occur from a blow to the head.
Instead, these injuries can be classified as “anoxic” (no oxygen) or “hypoxic” (low oxygen) brain injuries. The result is often the same: tissue death, difficulty sending signals to parts of the brain, and loss of function and ability because of the brain injury. Sometimes, the victim can recover some or all of the motor skills and abilities they lost, but a full recovery might not be possible in every case.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
In many cases, the drowning occurs in the first place because the victim suffered a blow to the head. This could knock them out and give them a concussion or a more serious TBI, leaving them unable to swim to the surface and causing them to reflexively inhale water.
These head and brain injuries could occur when diving into shallow water, after hitting one’s head on the side or rim of the pool, or after slipping on the deck and falling into the water. In many cases, these kinds of injuries affect children who were not being supervised properly at the time of the accident or children who were the victim of other kids’ horseplay.
Lung and Chest Pain
Breathing in a lot of water hurts. It might take hours for your lungs and chest to feel better after drowning, leading to pretty significant pain and suffering. Even if this pain does not last very long, this pain should be accounted for in the victim’s damages.
Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits for Drowning Victims and Their Families in Delaware County
Whenever a drowning accident happens, there is a possibility that there might be a party to hold liable for the accident. This could result in damages for the victim’s medical care, pain and suffering, lost wages (if relevant), and other economic and non-economic damages. In the event of a death, the family could also be entitled to compensation.
Who to Sue
The first issue in a lawsuit is the question of who to sue. The pool owner might be responsible, especially in cases where swimmers are injured as guests at someone’s house where they were invited to swim at their pool. In commercial situations such as public or private pools or swim clubs, the lifeguards – as employees of the pool – might be responsible, putting the entire company at fault. Especially when it comes to injuries involving children, it is often up to the lifeguards and other staff – or the homeowner in a backyard pool – to keep people safe. Those who fail this job might be held responsible.
Pool accidents could also be caused by other patrons or swimmers, such as other children who struck your kid’s head against the pool rim or a diver who did not watch out for smaller children below them.
Cause of Action
In injury and wrongful death cases, the claim you file is usually based on negligence. This means accusing the at-fault party of merely failing to do something they were required to do rather than accusing them of any intentional ill-will toward you or your family member. In these cases, there are often multiple ways that we can assess what happened and what the other parties were required to do based on what is “reasonable” for a homeowner, pool operator, lifeguard, or fellow swimmer.
Liability Waivers
Many pools, water parks, or swim clubs open to the public have liability waivers and additional insurance to try to protect themselves from lawsuits. Many “swim at your own risk” signs and other “releases of liability” are not enough to protect them from liability, especially in situations where the language was not clear enough or part of an explicit agreement.
Contact Our Delaware County Lawyers for Swimming Pool Drowning Today
For a free assessment of your case, contact The Reiff Law Firm’s swimming pool drowning lawyers at (215) 709-6940.
