Even a low speed, rear-end collision can result in serious consequences such as traumatic brain injury.
To make the situation even more concerning, symptoms of brain damage may not show up for hours or even days after the crash.
A truck’s black box may provide crash-related information
When a commercial airliner crashes or has in-flight problems, investigators often glean valuable information from the vessel’s flight data recorder, commonly called the black box. If you have a serious accident involving a semitruck, you should know many of these vehicles also have black boxes.
Following any traffic accident, it is important to understand both why the crash happened and who caused it. The truck’s black box may give you important answers to these critical questions.
Understanding Medicare’s nursing home rating system
If your aging parent cannot care for himself or herself, moving into a nursing home may make sense. Because you want your mother or father to be in good hands, though, you must realize that not all nursing homes offer the same level of care.
To provide insight into the quality of long-term care facilities, Medicare officials regularly rate nursing homes. Therefore, you may want to refer to Medicare’s star-based rating system when deciding which nursing home is right for your elderly loved one. While it does not tell you everything you need to know about the nursing home, Medicare’s star rating system is a good place to begin your research. Still, because the system can be a bit confusing, you must understand how it works.
The CSX train collision shows how suddenly a crash can occur
No one traveling aboard an Amtrak passenger train on a February night in 2018 suspected that it was on the same track as a stopped CSX freight train.
The resulting collision resulted in injury and death and illustrated how suddenly a train crash can occur.
Falls kill about 1,800 U.S. nursing home residents annually
Deciding to place an aging loved one in a nursing home is often difficult, and so is selecting a home where you believe that your loved one is going to receive a high level of care. If you are like many others who came before you, you may have decided to move your loved one into a nursing home because you had concerns about his or her mobility. However, it may alarm you to learn just how common falls are in American nursing home environments.
According to Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, falls now account for about 36% of all preventable emergency room visits among the elderly, with the typical U.S. nursing home reporting between about 100 and 200 falls every year. This number refers only to the falls that nursing home staff members formally report, though, so the actual number of older adults falling and hurting themselves each year in nursing homes may be significantly higher.
Do not let your body’s stress response fool you
Automobile accidents are inherently stressful events. Following a crash, you are apt to worry about yourself, your passengers and your vehicle. You may even feel uneasy about interacting with the other driver, police officers, emergency responders and others. You must realize, though, that your body’s stress response may play tricks on you.
During moments of stress, the human body prepares either to fight off danger or run away from it. To do so, your brain signals the release of adrenaline and other stress-related hormones. Unfortunately, however, your body’s stress response may induce you into believing that you have not sustained a serious injury when you have.
What to do when you get to the hospital after a car accident
The vast majority of auto accidents that occur in South Carolina result in injuries rather than fatalities. While most people focus on lane closures in the aftermath of a traffic collision, the truth is that people in those cars may have sustained serious injuries in the aftermath of a crash.
Even if you feel all right, you want to go to a hospital immediately after any kind of car crash. You may have suffered injuries that you are unaware exist at the moment. You need to see a doctor to ensure that you are all right and to help bolster your claim in the event that you need to file a lawsuit.
Could you identify top causes of medical injury?
When visiting a doctor, you believe the doctor has your best interest in mind. A doctor's top priority is ensuring you get the care you need to recover.
However, there are situations when you may believe that the doctor is not doing everything possible to help you address and manage your symptoms. It may help to familiarize yourself with the top incidents that may lead a doctor to become involved in a medical malpractice suit.
The most dangerous highways in South Carolina
Driving on the highway in South Carolina always comes with some risks. However, certain roadways pose greater dangers than others. Parents should make sure that kids learning to drive have adequate preparation so that they may avoid a car accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts out a report for each state concerning the most dangerous roadways and how many injuries and fatalities occur on each annually. Looking at the data from the last few years, it is easy to see a pattern and pinpoint the most dangerous highways in the state. Here are the areas to watch out for and be particularly vigilant in.
How understaffing leads to nursing home abuse
While you may have heard horror stories about nursing homes, such as staff members assaulting patients, the truth is that not all abuse happens as the result of malintent. Many facilities try their best to care for residents but lack the necessary resources. This leads to unintentional, but still inexcusable, neglect that harms the innocent.
One of the most rampant problems across nursing homes is not having sufficient staff. Weekends suffer the most, reports PBS, when some staff has nearly double the number of patients to care for. Understaffing is a major contributing factor in several types of neglect and abuse.
