School Bus Crash Leaves Over 50 People Injured

By Grant Law Office on May 28, 2012

A chain-reaction school bus crash involving six buses and a car left one driver trapped in the wreckage and required over 50 people to seek medical attention, according to a recent article in the Greenfield Reporter.

The students were on their way to a school trip in Six Flags outside Atlanta when their buses were involved in an accident. Traffic had slowed to navigate a construction site, and one of the buses rear-ended another bus, setting off a chain reaction that involved six school buses in total and one passenger car. The accident shut down traffic on westbound Highway 20 for several hours while rescue crews worked to extract everyone from the damaged vehicles and clear the roadway.

One bus driver was pinned inside the damaged bus and had to be cut free, according to investigators. She was airlifted to a local hospital where she is currently listed in stable condition. About fifty students were examined for injuries at the scene and in local emergency rooms, but all were released to their parents with only minor scrapes and bruises, according to the school district.Read more…

Lake Lanier Boating Crash Leaves One Dead, One Injured

By Grant Law Office on April 26, 2012

One boater lost his life and another was severely injured when their boat was struck by another boat on Lake Lanier near Buford, Georgia recently, according to a news report from 11 Alive.

The boat damaged in the crash and those who had been aboard were found during the night on Lake Lanier when another boat occupied by a young couple ran into the damaged boat in the water. The couple’s own boat was damaged during the discovery, so the pair swam to shore and flagged down a passing driver, who called 9-1-1. Rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the boat’s driver, a man, had lost his life in the crash and the boat’s passenger, a woman, was severely injured.Read more…

Study Finds Youth Injuries on Farms is Declining

By Grant Law Office on April 19, 2012

A recent study by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that the rate of injuries young workers suffer while doing farm labor has declined in recent years.

For young workers on farms that aren’t also their homes, the injury rate has dropped from 13.5 injuries per 1,000 workers in 2001 to 7.2 injuries per 1,000 workers in 2009 – a decrease of nearly half. The study defined “young workers” as those under age 20, and an “injury” as one that sidelined the worker for at least four hours or that required medical attention. The group examined included both young people who were hired to work on a farm and young people who were volunteering or merely visiting the farm.Read more…

Hypothermia May Cause Additional Damage to Severely Injured Accident Victims

By Grant Law Office on April 13, 2012

When a serious accident occurs, those injured by it often need serious trauma care and they need it fast. Rescue workers are trained to determine what a seriously injured person needs to stay alive until they can be transported to an emergency room or trauma center for treatment. However, many patients arrive at trauma centers suffering from hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature – a condition that can cause its own harm and make other injuries more difficult to treat.Read more…

Georgia Tech Students Develop Tool to Help Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Patients

By Grant Law Office on April 5, 2012

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common workplace injury among people whose jobs involve large amounts of typing, working with hand tools, or other skills that require dexterity and coordination. Severe cases of carpal tunnel syndrome often require surgery and can result in permanent impairments, making it difficult or impossible to work. Rehabilitation is often painful, time-consuming, and incomplete.

Now, a group of students at Georgia Tech have created a device that helps carpal tunnel patients regain dexterity, strength, and hand coordination more effectively. Known as Re-Hand, the device looks like a joystick with large buttons. It is attached to a computer, and the user operates the device through various games. The games improve hand and wrist strength and coordination, and the program keeps track of data and can send it to the user’s doctor so that the patient’s progress can be monitored.Read more…

Employers Can Protect Employee Eye Health Too

By Grant Law Office on March 8, 2012

“March is “Save Your Vision Month,” and to help workers nationwide preserve their eyesight and protect their eye health, the American Optometric Association encourages employers and employees to discuss possible sources of eye damage at work and find ways to help correct them. Eye health is important, and employers who protect their employees’ eyes save both productivity and money.

Computer vision syndrome,” a condition that causes eyestrain, fatigue, and difficulty focusing, is on the rise in the U.S., as more and more workplaces require employees to work with computers, often for hours at a time.Read more…

Georgia School Bus Accident Injures 16 Children, None Seriously

By Grant Law Office on February 27, 2012

Sixteen children were taken to local hospitals to be checked out after a bus accident in northern Georgia recently, but all were released to their parents and are expected to make full physical recoveries from the crash, according to a recent news report from Access North GA.

The accident occurred on East Hall Road as the bus was transporting students from the local high school. The bus rolled off the side of the road and came to rest on its side against a tree. Investigators say that they do not believe another vehicle was involved. Rather, they suspect that the driver of the school bus had a medical episode which caused him to momentarily lose control of the school bus.Read more…

What Kinds of Injuries Require a Hospital Stay?

By Grant Law Office on January 26, 2012

Accidents of all kinds can result in injury, but not all injuries require a person to stay in a hospital for treatment. Certain injuries are far more likely to result in a hospital stay than others, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Common injuries that require a hospital stay include: fractures, brain injuries, poisonings, and injuries caused by slip and fall accidents.

Fractures are the most common injury that causes hospitalization, accounting for over 52 percent of hospital stays, according to AHRQ. Hip and leg fractures most often require a hospital stay, but fractures of the pelvis, ribs, spine, or arms also make the list.Read more…

Safety Tips for Turkey Time in Georgia

By Grant Law Office on November 23, 2011

Every year, Thanksgiving brings a flurry of increased activity into kitchens everywhere, as mouth watering meals are prepared for family tables. Along with that extra time in front of stoves and ovens comes a heightened risk for house fires. In fact, the holiday brings three times the normal national average for residential fires, according to data by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) collected in 2009. With that in mind, let’s go over a few guidelines for keeping this year’s turkey time safe, culled from tips by Savannah Now.

• Check all smoke detectors to make sure they work well, and test them before any cooking sessions begin. Do the same for carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, as heating systems and generators can pose CO poisoning risks.Read more…

Avoid Accidents this Halloween with Safety Suggestions from the CPSC

By Grant Law Office on October 31, 2011

Due to high pedestrian traffic, low visibility, and a number of other factors, Halloween can be a frightening holiday for accidents and injuries. But many of them can be prevented, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a recent release. To aid families and individuals in having a fun but safe Halloween celebration, the CPSC issued a series of guidelines. The following are a few regarding safe costumes and clothing.

• Always choose costumes with a certified “flame resistant” label. Fabrics with flame resistant qualities include polyester or nylon.
• Lower the danger of coming into contact with lit jack o’ lanterns and other open flames by avoiding costumes that have long draping or hanging parts; these can catch fire and also present tripping hazards.Read more…