What Injuries Are Usually Preventable In Personal Injury Cases?
What Injuries Are Usually Preventable In Personal Injury Cases?
Injuries occur in a wide variety of ways. In many cases, injuries happen due to the careless or negligent actions of other individuals or entities. Sometimes, individuals injure themselves by making a mistake. The reality is that most injuries individuals sustain are preventable. Here, we want to discuss some of the most preventable injuries, as presented by the National Safety Council (NSC).
Preventable Injuries and Deaths
According to the NSC, poisonings, motor vehicle accidents, and falls are responsible for approximately 86% of all preventable deaths in this country.
When we examine other common preventable causes of death in the US, we see that this includes suffocations, drownings, fires and burns, and natural disasters or environmental disasters that could have been prevented. However, all of those causes only account for a little more than 5% of all preventable deaths.
When we look at common causes of preventable injuries (not fatalities), we see that the number one cause of non-fatal emergency department visits includes fall-related incidents. These account for around 33% of all non-fatal injuries.
Next on the list of preventable injuries is getting struck by an object or pushed into an object, and this accounts for around 11% of all preventable injuries. The next two leading causes of preventable injuries include poisonings and “other specified cause,” which is an umbrella of other incidents that did not account for much on their own. Motor vehicle accidents account for 8% of all non-fatal injuries.
The NSC says that there are only three types of preventable incidents that are in the top ten for both injuries and deaths, and this includes poisonings, motor vehicle accidents, and falls.
Age does matter when it comes to preventable injuries. For example, older individuals are much more likely to sustain preventable fall injuries, while children are much more likely to sustain injuries or death as a result of drownings.
Recovering Compensation After a Preventable Injury
Just because an injury is preventable does not necessarily mean that an injury victim will be unable to recover compensation for their losses. In some cases, an at-fault party who failed to prevent the injury will be held responsible for the damages. This can include an individual, company, or entity.
For example, let us suppose that a property owner failed to adequately inspect and maintain their floors, which led to a person sustaining a slip and fall injury. In this situation, the property owner could be held liable for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering damages due to their negligence.
Similarly, if a daycare center fails to safely store cleaners in their facility and a child gets poisoned by the cleaner, the daycare employees and operators could be held responsible for their negligence in failing to prevent the injury by adequately storing the chemicals.
Working With a Lawyer
Any person who sustains an injury caused by the negligent actions of another individual or entity needs to work with an attorney immediately. A San Bernardino personal injury lawyer will fully examine the situation, gather as much evidence as possible, and work to recover maximum compensation. Just because an injury was preventable does not mean that no one is responsible, and injury victims should be able to recover complete compensation for their losses.