Atlanta Personal Injury Blog

Spinal cord injuries can range from mild to extremely debilitating, but when they’re caused by a car accident, they’re usually of the latter variety. These severe spinal cord injuries require immediate medical care, and after that, the experience of your Atlanta car accident attorney.

Diagnosis of a spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injuries are often diagnosed by examining the vertebrae of the spinal cord to see if it was injured or disrupted.

Common spinal cord injury diagnoses

Spinal Stenosis - the narrowing of the spinal column that causes pressure on the spinal cord.

Quadriplegia - the loss of function and control of all limbs and torso.

Paraplegia - the loss of function and control from the waist down.

Most spinal cord injuries are caused by car accidents

spinal cord injury caused by traffic accidents - 44 percent

spinal cord injury caused by violence - 24 percent

spinal cord injury caused by slips and falls - 22 percent

spinal cord injury caused by sports injuries - 8 percent

spinal cord injury caused other activities - 2 percent

What can an Atlanta spinal cord injury attorney do for you?

Apart from helping you recover lost wages from your car accident, spinal cord injury lawyers can also help the victim deal with the pain and emotional hardship that goes along with a severe back injury.

If you’ve suffered a back injury in a car accident, don’t hesitate to contact Bruce A Hagen, your premier car accident attorney in Atlanta.

The following article was found on seattletimes.com, and even though the boating accident didn’t take place in Atlanta, the message is still the same. You should do everything you can to make sure you follow all boating safety guidelines - like wearing life jackets, etc. Obviously, the last thing you want to think about is having to call a wrongful death attorney this summer.

In the horrible case that a boating accident should happen to occur, don’t hesitate to contact an Atlanta boating accident attorney.

“Teen in Camano boat accident dies at hospital

A second person has died as a result of a Saturday-morning boating accident off Camano Head, the southern tip of Camano Island, officials said.

Austin Anglin, a 13-year-old boy from Camano Island who had been trapped under the overturned boat, died at 8:45 a.m. Sunday at Seattle Children’s hospital, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office said. His death was a result of “near-drowning,” the medical examiner said.

Will Whetham, 68, died Saturday from cardiac arrest. He was pulled from Puget Sound by nearby boaters and taken to Tulalip Marina, where he was declared dead by rescue crews, said Deputy Chief Rob Johnson of the Tulalip Bay Fire Department.

Anglin and Whetham were shrimping in an 18-foot boat Saturday morning with three other adults when two waves swamped the craft around 7:15 a.m. and capsized it, knocking all five into the water, according to the Coast Guard.

Two fishing boats arrived to help. Those aboard pulled Whetham out of the water and saved the three survivors, who all had mild hypothermia, Johnson said.

None of the passengers was wearing life jackets, according to the Coast Guard. However, one survivor told KIRO-TV that Anglin had worn a flotation coat.

Anglin was trapped underneath the boat, Johnson said. By the time a Coast Guard rescue swimmer was able to pull him out, he had been in the water for about 40 minutes, Johnson said.

After a rescue crew performed CPR, a helicopter took Anglin to Harborview Medical Center.

Among the survivors was Brian Whetham, Will Whetham’s son, said Jacque Camino, an employee who worked for Will Whetham.

The elder Whetham owned a grocery store in Marysville for more than 30 years. Camino, a 44-year-old cashier there, said she remembers coming into the store when she was a young teenager and Whetham would joke around with her and her mother.

“He had a great sense of humor,” she said. “He was very outdoorsy; you would never have thought it would have happened to him.”

Will Whetham’s life revolved around his grandchildren and his three kids, Camino said.

“As a boss, he was hard on us but caring,” she said. “He treated us like we were part of the family.”"

Boating is one of the most popular summer activities, and it’s easy to see why. Taking a boat ride is fun in itself, and it can also lead to other great activities such as swimming and fishing. Unfortunately, when people are having a good time, alcohol is often involved, even in situations that are potentially dangerous before their beer and wine even entered the picture. Boating is certainly no exception to this.

Many people see boating as a safer activity than driving a car, and they feel that since the risk of crashing is much less, that it’s okay to drink alcohol while on board. The truth is, more than 60 percent of all boating accidents are alcohol related. If you or a loved one becomes injured while out on the water, it’s imperative to call medical help immediately, and then contact your local Atlanta boating accident attorney or Atlanta personal injury attorney.

Besides being extremely dangerous, driving a boat while drunk is illegal. Many of the same rules apply to boating as car driving, and if they’re not follow, it can lead to hefty fines and even time in jail. So, if you truly think that injury is not an issue when “drunk boating,” think about the risk you’ll face if you get caught.

Some Alternatives…

• If you’re a passenger, and you’re going to drink a small amount of alcohol, make sure you bring along plenty of food to subdue the effects of alcohol.

• Alcohol dehydrates the body. Instead of alcohol, all passengers and drivers should consider thirst-quenching drinks like water or lemonade.

• Maybe you should consider having a few drinks on your boat, while it’s still tied to the dock. Sure, it may not be as exciting, but it’s certainly much safer than getting intoxicated while out in the middle of a body of water.

If you’ve been injured in a boating accident, don’t hesitate to contact Bruce A. Hagen, you’re top personal injury attorney in Atlanta.

A wrongful death case has to do with the liability of the death of an individual, in which the person being charged with the claims is said to have acted negligently with that individual, and is thus responsible for their death. Had the negligent individual taken all proper safety measures with that person, their death could have been avoided.

If you have a loved one who has passed away due to the negligent acts of another person, please consider contacting your local Atlanta wrongful death lawyer or Atlanta wrongful death attorney today!

There are many scenarios in which a wrongful death can occur, such as:

• Medical malpractice

• Medical prescription mistakes

• Defective products

• Food preparation errors

• Construction accidents

• Car accidents

• Bicycle accidents

• Motorcycle accidents