If you’ve been injured in an accident, there are situations where you will not need to hire an attorney. In New York, small claims court will handle personal injury claims of up to $3000 dollars.

If you have an injury that is minor and won’t result in an incapacity or substantial medical care, you should consider settling the case yourself in small claims court.

If you have been seriously injured in Buffalo, New York, or are unsure as to the degree of your injury, you should consult a personal injury attorney immediately. These cases can get quite complicated and an attorney will have the expertise, time, and resources to handle your case claim.

An experienced New York personal injury lawyer will have the ability to analyze the value of your case and to make all of the deadlines and requirements of your case.

It is important to recognize that statistics show that insurance companies regularly increase settlements when an a personal injury lawyer is actively involved.

If you need help in Buffalo New York please contact me today about your case.

The victim, a 38-year-old musician, was a passenger in a Ford Econoline E-350 van that hit a patch of black ice, slid into a ditch and rolled over two and a half times.

He struck his head on the roof and was rendered a quadriplegic.

He sued Ford Motor Co. for products liability.

Plaintiff alleged that the roof was inadequate and that a defective seat-latching mechanism caused his seat to unlatch inadvertently, which caused him to hit his head on the deforming roof during the rollover.

The plaintiff sustained a C5 burst fracture, resulting in quadriplegia and will require an intermittent catheter to avoid urinary tract infections and 24-hour care by a licensed vocational nurse.

The jury found that the van was defective and that Ford was 100 percent responsible for Plaintiff’s injuries. (United States District Court, Northern District, San Francisco, CA-May 27, 2009).

One of the leading causes of death in the United States is sudden cardiac arrest. The chance of survival is greatly increased by the administration of a defibrillator.

The administration of a defibrillator is highly successful when used within the first few minutes following sudden cardiac arrest, decreasing by approximately ten percent every minute the treatment is delayed.

In the past, the ability to defibrillate was solely in the hands of emergency medical personnel. Unfortunately, quick emergency medical response is not always possible.

The average arrival time for emergency vehicles in New York City is about 12 minutes. Therefore, cardiac arrest survival rates are less than 2 percent there.

A new state law, effective January 2, 2009, is intended to protect the health and safety of swimmers and bathers of surf or bathing beaches by requiring that there be a cardiac automated external defibrillator and at least one lifeguard trained in its operation and use during all periods of required supervision.

This post brought to you by Friedman & Ranzenhofer – Injury Attorneys in Buffalo NY

To prevent the deadly underwater entrapment of children caused by suction from pool drains, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 regulating drains in public swimming pools went into effect on December 19, 2008.

Seasonal public pools and spas that are currently closed must be in compliance with the law on the day that they reopen in 2009.

The federal legislation requires public pools and spas to be equipped with anti-entrapment drain covers. Pools and spas with a single main drain must also be equipped with a device or system designed to prevent entrapment, such as a safety vacuum release system that provides a rapid release of vacuum created whenever it detects a blockage.

Failure of public pools in spas, health clubs, parks, hotels and apartment complexes to comply with the law could result in immediate closure of the pools.

The law, which will be enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, was named after the 7-year-old girl who died in 2002 after the suction of a drain entrapped her under water.

Entrapment occurs when a child is pulled under water by a pool or hot tub’s filtration system. The suction, which can pull down a child’s body or a limb or hair, has 400 to 500 pounds of pressure. The drains can also cause disembowelment.

There were seventy-four reports of pool and spa entrapment’s of children from 1999 to 2007, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Nine of those cases resulted in death. Children in the 5 to 9 year-old category had the highest frequency of entrapment.