What You Need To Know About Summer Camp Injuries
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Sending your kids off to summer camp is a great way to help them make friends, enjoy the weather, and pursue the activities they love. You take time and effort to choose a camp you can trust to care for your most precious loved ones. You make sure they understand the rules and are sent off with all the supplies they could need. However, even at the best summer camps, injuries can happen. So what do you do if your child is injured in an accident at summer camp? Who is responsible?Understanding Fault In Common Summer Camp Injuries
Liability and negligence are complex in summer camp injuries. In order to make a claim for your child’s injury, you need to understand the common summer camp injuries and how a camp may be negligent in preventing them:
- Sports-Related Injuries: Since most summer camp activities are physical, most injuries are sports related. In general these injuries will happen through no fault of anyone else. However, if children are not properly supervised during these activities, given dangerous instructions or pushed too hard, the camp may be liable. They may also be liable if the injury was the result of faulty sports equipment or a dangerous field. If your child has a sports related injury, it’s important to find out the full details of what happened before dismissing it at a no fault injury.
- Drowning And Near-Drowning Injuries: Most summer camps offer some sort of water activities to beat the heat. When their oxygen is cut off from a near-drowning incident, children can suffer severe brain damage and may need medical treatment for the rest of their lives. In the case of drowning, they may tragically lose their young lives. These water activities can be at pools, lakes, and the beach and may not always be properly supervised. In Florida, summer camps have a duty to provide proper supervision from a CPR and First Aid-certified, licensed lifeguard. There are also regulations about the safety of the swimming area and how many lifeguards are required per child depending on the age. If a camp fails to meet these legal requirements
- Slip And Fall/Trip And Fall: Children love to run around and play and the camp has a duty to ensure that their grounds are safe and free of clutter. Children can slip or trip and fall on a number of things both inside and out. Slip or trip and falls fall under premises liability, so a camp can be negligent if they did not exercise reasonable due diligence to prevent the injury. Slip or trip and falls can cause serious injuries like traumatic brain injuries spinal cord injuries that can permanently impair your children. In these injuries, it is very important to understand if the camp was negligent.
- Heat Stroke: Children spend a significant amount of time outside during summer camp, often all day long. Camp counselors have a duty to ensure that children are well protected from the sun with protective clothing and sunscreen. They also need to make sure they are properly hydrated and are getting enough rest during their outdoor activities. They are also responsible for ensuring your child sees a medical professional at the first sign of heat stroke. Heat stroke can cause long term damage to their hearts, liver, kidneys and muscles if not treated right away. At summer camps, heat stroke is always from negligence.
- Child Abuse: Child abuse comes in many forms including physical, sexual, and emotional. In any case of child abuse, the camp is liable for your child’s injuries.
What To Do If Your Child Is Injured At Summer Camp
If your child is injured at summer camp, it is important to hire an experienced personal injury attorney. Since liability is complex with summer camps, you need someone with the knowledge to pursue a claim, prove negligence, and negotiate a fair settlement. Michael Babboni can help. With experience in a range of personal injury and wrongful death cases, Michael knows how to make the law work for you. Contact us today for a consultation to see how he can help.