With more businesses being cleared to open back up, we will soon see more traffic on the roads. For motorcycle enthusiasts here in South Louisiana, that can be a harbinger of danger.
It's quite understandable why a motorcyclist suffers far more damage after a dust-up with a motorist. While riding a big two-wheeled cycle is lots of fun and may make you look like a "tough biker," the reality is that you are incredibly vulnerable to serious injuries and even death.
In the not-so-distant past, victims of serious burns had very poor chances of survival. Even if they survived the initial conflagration, the overwhelming infections that resulted from the horrific burns often claimed their lives.
But medicine has advanced to the point where even patients with deep, disfiguring burns may survive. The challenge has somewhat shifted then to the psychological stresses they face as they go forward with their recoveries.
After a loved one's untimely death in an accident, their surviving family members may have grounds to file a wrongful death claim. But they need to take action quickly, as here in Louisiana, the claims will proscribe after one year.
If survivors wait too long to take civil action, they will no longer be able to seek financial compensation for the loss of their loved one.
One of the major causes of largely preventable deaths is auto accidents. A third of the fatal accidents in the United States involve drunk driving on the part of one or more motorists. Excessive speed is involved in another third of the crash deaths. Neither statistic factors in the over 2 million individuals who get hurt in collisions each year.
Louisiana's auto accident fatality rates have traditionally been higher than the national average. At the end of the last century, for example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that with both men and women, the death rates from car accidents was higher here in our state than it was nationally.
When you were involved in your car accident, you didn't expect to be hurt as badly as you were. You couldn't have known that you'd be trapped inside your vehicle or that you'd suffer from burns before you could escape. They were painful at first, but you soon realized that the worst of them didn't hurt in any way at all.
Burns are significant injuries that do need medical care in many cases, especially once they reach second- or third-degree status. They can cause damaging scars, pain and disfigurement.
Head injuries often incapacitate the victims to the point where they can't report what happened to first responders. Often their friends and family members who were with them when the injury occurred will fill in the paramedics or doctors about what happened.
But at the same time, the victim's own body often is telling the medical professionals some of the things they need to know to correctly diagnose and treat the injured victim. There are two clear indications that a traumatic brain injury has occurred — decorticate and decerebrate posturing.
You kissed your spouse good-bye for work and they headed out the door. You never dreamed that would be the last time that you ever saw them alive again.
But their morning commute took a deadly turn when an 18-wheeler attempted to make a last-minute lane change and their life ended that morning in horrific highway carnage.
Although we who live in south Louisiana are blessed with having relatively mild winters with no snow or ice, when springtime rolls around, driving can become very hazardous.
It's a lovely time to take a drive in the country and look at all the blooming flowers, but you want to be very aware of the following springtime road hazards.
Parents of active children can sometimes feel as if their second home is the emergency room (ER). From sprains and fractures to concussions, it seems as if kids are always banging themselves up and needing medical attention.
But with injuries to the head, it can be challenging to know when you should seek medical treatment and when it is all right for them to recuperate at home.
One of the hardest things for parents to cope with is the loss of a child. When that child dies by drowning, it is especially hard to bear because these deaths are often preventable.
Louisiana children are particularly susceptible to drowning, unfortunately. In comparison to the 2.5 drowning deaths of young children per 100,000 across the nation during the years 2014 to 2017, Louisiana kids of the same age averaged 5.8 drowning deaths per 100,000 children. In fact, for that demographic group during the last decade, drowning eclipsed deaths in our state from suffocation, gunshots, fires or car accidents.
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Fax 985-868-9429The Law Offices of Brent J. Rhodes 620 School Street Houma, LA 70360 Toll Free: 866-692-8703 Phone: 985-262-7799 Fax: 985-868-9429 Houma Law Office Map
