Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Recently, much of the country has experienced record-setting heatwaves and certainly Miami Beach ad South Florida in general are no stranger to dangerous temperatures. The sun and heat can cause serious harm, especially to children, who may not know about sun safety.
What Heat-Related Injuries Can Children Suffer?
In high heat conditions, children may be at risk of:
- Heat-related syndromes: When in high heat, especially when they are active, children are at risk of syndromes where the body overheats, resulting in a rapid pulse, dehydration, and heavy sweating. The mildest of these syndromes is heat cramps. Heat exhaustion is more severe and may require medical intervention. Heatstroke can be life-threatening and can result in injury.
- Sunburns: Sunburns occur when the sun is exposed to the rays of the sun, and the skin is damaged. Any significant sunburns can increase the chances of a child developing skin cancer later in life, but sunburns themselves can be dangerous, especially for a young child. They can lead to blistered skin, a high fever, dizziness, and other symptoms requiring a visit to the doctor.
- Burns: Surfaces on the playground and in other spaces can get dangerously hot on a sunny Miami Beach day. Children can burn their skin if they touch these surfaces.
- Eye injury: Glare from the sun can hurt a child’s eyes and cause headaches as well as other uncomfortable symptoms. Staring directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage and vision impairment.
- Falls: As children get overheated, they can become dehydrated and dizzy. This can make them more prone to falls, which can lead to serious injuries, including head injuries and broken bones.
- Pool injuries: In hot weather, children may be spending time in pools, and this can lead to serious pool injuries, including drowning.
Who is Liable?
Daycares, schools, camps, and other service providers of children’s programming have an obligation to keep children in their care safe, and this means adjusting programs in unsafe weather. Schools, camps, daycares, and other organizations may need to do some or all of the following to keep children safe from hot weather:
- Provide adequate water and shade
- Keep children inside at least some of the time in dangerous heat conditions
- Prevent children from running too much in hot weather
- Make sure children are properly clothed for the conditions, including wearing a hat and sunglasses
- Properly supervise children to ensure they aren’t looking at the sun or touching hot surfaces
- Correctly supervise pool and water areas
- Check on children in the heat to look for signs of heat exhaustion and other injury
- Have safe systems for cars, to make sure children aren’t left in a hot car, even for a minute
If a daycare or other childcare provider fails to take reasonable precautions such as these and your child is injured as a result, you may wish to contact a childhood injury claims attorney in Miami Beach or your community to find out whether you have a claim. Pursuing a claim, if you’re eligible, can help you pay for the medical care and other support your child may need after a serious injury.
If your child has been injured and you’d like to know whether you have a claim, you can always phone Flaxman Law Group at 866-352-9626 to speak to a live person 24/7. Our team has more than 60 years of combined experience, so you may want to schedule a free, no obligation consultation to get answers to your questions. Your can also contact us online to schedule your free case consultation.