Boston Child Brain Injury Blog

Halloween is a holiday filled with fun, mischief and, of course, candy. Trick or treating is a trademark of the spooky holiday. But whenever children, costumes and traffic are combined, the safety risks are obvious. One of the best ways to prevent a child injury during trick or treating is to provide constant adult supervision. 

Some other Halloween safety tips you’ll want to give to your children when they will be trick or treating include: 

• stay in a group and make sure everyone knows where you are going;
• cross the street in crosswalks only (and look both ways before crossing);
• cross the street with your entire group;
• walk on the side of the street facing traffic (when a sidewalk or driveway isn’t available);
• stay only in well-lit neighborhoods;
• only go to houses that have porch lights lit;
• never go into homes for candy; and
• if you have teenagers who will not have adult supervision, review their route and curfew before they leave. 

In most cases, following some of the above Halloween safety tips will allow you to have a fun, safe holiday. In some unfortunate circumstances, severe child injury can occur, whether from a pedestrian accident, slip and fall injury or dog bite attack.

If your child has been injured, contact a Boston child injury lawyer to review the circumstances surrounding your case. An attorney can help you determine whether you have a solid child injury claim, can help collect evidence to substantiate your claim, and can represent you throughout all legal proceedings. 

Hiring a Boston Child Injury Lawyer 
After a severe child injury, your priority should be your child’s recovery and well being, not dealing with insurance adjusters and tedious legal proceedings. If your child has suffered serious injury because of the negligence of another, order this FREE BOOK, Dealing with a Nightmare: The Essential Steps to Take if Your Child Suffers a Serious Injury.

The Boston child injury lawyers at Kiley Law Group serve clients in the greater Boston area and can help you with your child injury case. For a FREE Evaluation of your child injury case, contact us today at 800-930-8145.

HALLOWEEN COSTUME SAFETY
Face paint can lend that crowning touch to children’s Halloween costumes. After all, what’s a ghost without that layer of pale, white sheen, or a Count Dracula without that smidge of red paint around the mouth? 

While face paint has been touted in recent years as a much safer alternative to masks on Halloween, it doesn’t come without its risks, either. Non-toxic face paint has been encouraged by child safety groups such as Safe Kids USA, but can also cause adverse reactions in some circumstances. 

According to an October 2009 USA Today article, an entire troop of 43 Girl Scouts reported red, bumpy rashes from using Shanghai Art Stationary brand face paint in February 2009. And since the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) can’t recall defective face paint, it can only request manufacturers to pull products off the market. 

According to the article, some FDA Halloween safety tips for use of face paint as part of children’s Halloween costumes include: 

• If the paint has a bad smell, throw it away; it could be contaminated.
• Try a small amount of face paint on one area of the face a few days before you plan to use it (this should reveal any allergic reactions).
• Don’t allow your kids to sleep with their face paint on.  

While face masks may not cause facial irritation or allergic reactions, they do pose a serious risk for a severe child head injury in the event of a pedestrian accident. If a child is wearing a mask that restricts their line of vision, they may not be able to see an approaching car.  

You can do your part to help cut down on your child’s risk for a pedestrian accident this Halloween, starting with your child’s Halloween costume.  

If your child has been involved in a Halloween pedestrian accident, you’ll want to seek immediate medical attention. As soon as possible, talk with a Massachusetts child injury lawyer to find out if you have grounds for a child injury claim. 

Contacting a Child Injury Lawyer 
If your child has suffered serious injury, your first concern is their well-being. When someone else’s negligent behavior causes your child’s injury, seeking compensation through a child injury claim is your first step toward giving your child every opportunity in their future. 

 If you’re considering filing a child injury claim, order this complimentary book, Dealing with a Nightmare: The Essential Steps to Take if Your Child Suffers a Serious Injury. Then contact the Massachusetts child injury lawyers at Kiley Law Group for a no-cost evaluation of your child injury case – 800-930-8145.

October is Fire Safety Month and it starts off with Fire Prevention Week during October 3-9. Part of this month is also to raise awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be deadly if not caught in time.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a gas that has no smell and no color, making it tricky to track.  CO can typically be found in fumes from vehicles, engines, stoves, wood burning, and various heating systems.  It can slowly accumulate in the area directly around it and poison those in the area who breathe it in.

The symptoms that CO poisoning causes in people do help narrow down the options for a diagnosis.  Some signs of CO poisoning are bad headaches, confusion, fatigue, and general nausea.  If someone has breathed in considerable levels of CO, it could result in that person falling unconscious or even dying.   

CO can be picked up by your body through red blood cells at work, processing the CO a lot faster than the oxygen you would normally be breathing in.  Because the cells are replacing necessary oxygen with dangerous CO, your body isn’t getting the oxygen it needs.  This can lead to tissue damage if not caught in time.

Anyone is at risk for CO poisoning, but those who are in more vulnerable states of health are at a greater risk.  Those who may be more affected by CO are fetuses, toddlers and smaller children, along with those who have cardiac complications (heart disease) or breathing problems such as asthma.

According to the CDC’s fact sheet, 400 people in the U.S. die annually from CO poisoning, while over 20,000 people go to the emergency room for treatment and 4,000 are admitted to the hospital for CO poisoning.  Those aged 65 and older are extremely susceptible to succumbing to CO poisoning.

CO poisoning is oftentimes preventable, so look over this list of helpful reminders:

• Have a professional review all of your appliances that burn fuel, especially before the cold weather sets in so that you will be prepared for the heating season ahead
• Refrain from starting your car in your garage and leaving it to “heat up” while you prepare to leave for work at the last-minute.  CO fumes don’t need long to accumulate, even if the garage is open
• Never use a gas oven as the heater for your home or burn charcoal in your fireplace
• Ensure that when you use gas-powered engines, you use them outside only.  Using equipment such as a chain saw in an enclosed space, like your garage, will send CO into the garage and should be prevented
• If you and more than one person in your family is sharing similar symptoms, like the ones mentioned above, call your doctor immediately.  As soon as you suspect CO poisoning, you must get fresh, outside air and leave your house or area where you experience the symptoms
• A good way to remember to see if your fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order is to check them when you set the clocks ahead in spring and set them back in the autumn