An FHP trooper who had pulled a car over on I-4 Wednesday afternoon was injured when another driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the trooper’s patrol car. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the trooper’s injuries were not life-threatening and he did not have to be hospitalized after the car accident.

Injuries to police and emergency responders are all too common on Florida’s roadways, despite the law’s requirement that other drivers take extra care when a patrol car or emergency vehicle is parked on the side of the road. This trooper was lucky, but car accidents involving emergency personnel frequently cause serious and even catastrophic injuries.

According to the FHP, the trooper had pulled a car over on I-4 and was parked on the left shoulder of the off-ramp that leads to northbound I-95 in Volusia County. At around 4:15 p.m. as the trooper was wrapping up his traffic stop, the driver of a 2001 Ford F350 who was driving eastbound on the ramp lost control of his pickup. He careened across the road and slammed into the parked patrol car.

The pickup-truck driver, a 62-year-old man from Register, Georgia, was cited for careless driving. FHP investigators determined that the patrol car had been parked appropriately for the traffic stop.

Pedestrian accidents are always serious. Please be aware that police, emergency responders, construction crews and others are frequently on the roadway at great risk to their lives and safety. Don’t assume there are no pedestrians nearby simply because you are on an Interstate. As always, please drive safely.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, “FHP: Trooper’s injuries minor after crash during traffic stop,” Jeff Weiner, February 9, 2011

A recent investigation by NBC’s Today show found that both adult and youth hockey players are routinely being exposed to potentially toxic levels of carbon monoxide. The combination of gasoline-powered ice resurfacers and a lack of ventilation creates a miasma of poisonous carbon monoxide inside ice rinks, which can lead to serious illness and even brain injury.
Linda Davis, a former skater for the Ice Capades, has been diagnosed with long-term carbon monoxide poisoning, which has left her with chronic lung disease and damage to her brain. She now has memory problems and has to use a respirator.
“It started small, and then it progressed into completely debilitating me,” she told Today. “You just don’t know what your child is exposed to.”

Without proper ventilation, gasoline fumes from Zambonis linger; can lead to toxic exposure
Most hockey and ice skating rinks maintain a smooth, safe ice surface by using an ice resurfacer known as a Zamboni. There are several models, but most Zambonis are the size and shape of a small truck, and most run on gasoline.

The problem is that most ice rinks do not have enough ventilation to allow gasoline fumes, which are filled with carbon monoxide and particulates, to dissipate, experts say. In fact, ventilation is often restricted in order to keep the ice from melting.

“There’s very little ventilation,” says Joseph Cocciardi, a certified industrial hygienist interviewed by the show. “Whatever toxic materials are in the ice rink stay there.”
Just last week at least 61 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after being sickened by fumes at a hockey tournament in Gunnison, Colorado. According to Today’s investigation, at least 250 people have been poisoned by fumes at ice rinks nationwide.

The effects of severe carbon monoxide poisoning can be immediate, but the toxic effects of long-term exposure can be subtle. Carbon monoxide poisoning starves the brain for oxygen, which can cause brain injuries over time. Carbon monoxide and particulate pollutions can also cause lung damage.

‘You think your kids are safe in a rink,’ says mother of hospitalized teen
Nancy Fischer, interviewed by Today, recently found out that her 14-year-old son, who plays hockey three or four nights a week, had been exposed to the toxic fumes at his hockey rink. After a practice, he fainted in the locker room and couldn’t stand up. He and other team members were rushed to the hospital, where they were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

“It was very scary,” Fischer said. “I didn’t know the long-term effects. You think your kids are safe in a rink — and he wasn’t.”
Whenever we drop our children off at a sports activity, we know they could be injured. Nevertheless, we do expect them to be safe from preventable harm. In fact, premises liability law requires operators of public and private facilities to remove any known dangerous conditions. Injuries to children are far too common, and we need to do all we can to protect them.

Source: AOL Health, “Report: The Ice Rink May Make Your Child Sick,” Catherine Donaldson-Evans, February 10 2011

The Tavares Police Department is enthusiastic about a new weapon engineered to subdue combative suspects and take control of dangerous situations. Some Central Florida citizens, however, are not nearly as happy about the addition of the new “X3” taser model to local law enforcement’s arsenal.
The controversial weapon differs from most existing tasers because it allows the police officer to fire up to three shots without reloading. Some concerned Tavares citizens wonder if this feature is really necessary or if it represents an unnecessary risk of serious injury or even wrongful death.

Triple taser: Important police tool or a tragedy waiting to happen?

Tavares Police Captain Danny Felicia explained that the multiple shots are useful if the target is moving and you miss with the first or second shot. He also stated that some suspects aren’t subdued with just one taser shot, requiring multiple probes to surrender to law enforcement. He also pointed to situations where multiple targets pose a threat to police officers.

Critics of the triple taser argue that ordinary tasers are already deadly, and the new technology simply compounds the problems of potential police misuse and accidental death. They point to incidents in Florida and across the nation where law enforcement’s use of tasers have resulted in the death of suspects.

In one such incident, a Miami-Dade Police officer’s taser killed a 29-year-old man near the University of Miami campus in 2008. The accidental taser-death left a young boy without his father. Anti-taser spokespeople explain that preexisting conditions such as severe asthma or heart defects can result in wrongful death when an electrical shock surges through the body.

Advocates of the more powerful taser admit that accidental deaths can happen in rare circumstances, but that the taser is a much safer way to detain combative suspects than traditional weapons such as firearms or batons.

Sources:
• WESH.com Orlando, “New Taser Packs Triple the Stun,” January 27, 2011
• JustNews.com Miami, “Partygoer Stunned With Taser Gun Dies,” January 11, 2008

Activists for a free Tibet are mourning today after the tragic death of the Dalai Lama’s nephew, Jigme Norbu, who had dedicated much of his life to that cause. Norbu was killed in a car accident Tuesday night during a “Walk for Tibet” event. Those taking part in the walk with him say that Norbu, 45, was so dedicated that he had insisted on pressing on after dark.
The fatal accident occurred sometime after sunset Valentine’s Day on Highway A1A about 25 miles south of St. Augustine. The Florida Highway Patrol gave few details about the wreck except that Norbu had been struck from behind and that the driver is not expected to face charges.

Jigme Norbu began his walks in part to commemorate Norbu’s late father, Thubten Jigme Norbu, the Dalai Lama’s eldest brother, who died in September 2008. The younger Norbu dedicated much of his time to the Tibetan cause after his father’s death in order to carry on his human rights works and those of the Dalai Lama.

Prior to committing most of his time to the Tibetan cause, 45-year-old Norbu had been a restaurateur in Indiana. He was married and had three children.

Behind on 30-mile daily goal, Norbu continued walking after dark, friends say
The Valentine’s Day Walk for Tibet was to be a walk from St. Augustine to West Palm Beach. The walkers had gotten a late start, however.

“Our goal was 30 miles per day…we were a little behind and we just kept going,” said fellow walker Wangchuk Dorjee, who was participating in his fourth walk with Norbu.
“He talked a little bit about his oldest son getting ready to go to high school and that he would maybe play football.”
Dorjee and support driver Donna Kim-Brand, who planned the logistics of the walk, had gone ahead to arrange dinner, leaving Norbu to continue walking. They had never continued walking after dark, but Norbu had told them he wanted to walk two more miles for the cause, said Kim-Brand.

Norbu was wearing athletic shoes with reflectors, Kim-Brand said, but he had no reflective tape on his clothing. He was carrying a white sign saying, “Walk for Tibet, for world peace, human rights and Tibetan independence,” and he had been walking in the direction of traffic before the pedestrian accident.

Dorjee remembered Norbu as a man who was “always laughing” and who was dedicated to the Dalai Lama’s work.
“I walked with him many, many miles and of course, you know the blisters, but he never complained. He always said, it’s ok…my blisters are nothing compared to what happens in Tibet…my brothers and sisters suffering,” he said.
Dorjee told reporters that the Dalai Lama had been notified of the fatal car accident and that he had been in touch with Norbu’s family.

“They’ve already spoken to his holiness and had the Tibetan traditional prayer,” Dorjee said.

Source: ABC News, “Dalai Lama’s Nephew Killed By Car on Walkathon, Had to Press On,” Jessica Hopper, February 15, 2011

In March 2010, a family from Chula Vista, California, was visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando when their four-year-old son was severely burned by scalding nacho cheese. The little boy ended up with serious, painful burns that will apparently result in permanent scarring. They have now filed a product/premises liability lawsuit against Disney claiming that the park should not have served a child food so hot that it would cause burn injuries when eaten.

“The cheese should not have been that hot,” says the family’s personal injury attorney. “Nobody has a reasonable expectation that it be served at a temperature causing immediate and severe burns on contact.”

Food safety rules do not require temperatures high enough to scald
Some in the press have drawn comparisons between this lawsuit and the 1994 premises/product liability case of an elderly New Mexico woman who sued after being burned by scalding coffee from a McDonald’s drive through. That woman apparently sustained third-degree burns, which go deeper than the surface skin and may require skin grafting or the use of synthetic skin.

There was some consternation over that lawsuit in the press. Some critics felt that the woman should have known the coffee was very hot and taken extra care. Be that as it may, this case illustrates the dangers of serving food or drink that is so hot that it cannot be safely consumed.

According to the complaint in the lawsuit against Disney, the family ordered nachos from Cosmic Ray’s Starlite Café at Walt Disney World. The child was sitting in an unsteady chair and apparently grasped at the table in order to keep from falling. When he did so, he inadvertently grabbed the food tray and a paper cup full of scalding cheese splashed his face.
The four-year-old was so badly burned that he sustained blisters and possibly third-degree burns on his face. The family says he is suffering from “permanent scarring, pain and suffering” from the burns. The family has submitted a photo to the press to show the seriousness of his injuries.

While food safety rules do require food to be kept at certain temperatures, the regulations clearly do not require nacho cheese to be served so hot that it cannot be immediately eaten without serious injury.

When you think of being scalded by too-hot food, do you expect to end up with serious blisters — or worse, third-degree burns requiring skin graft surgery?

When notified of the product/premises liability lawsuit, Disney issued a statement that any situation involving injuries to children is regrettable but had no direct comment, as it is still reviewing the case.

Source: USA TODAY, “Parents sue over son’s hot nacho cheese injury at Disney World,” Laura Bly, February 11, 2011

A 7-year-old girl from Union, Georgia, was riding her bike yesterday afternoon when she was seriously injured in a car accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. She was not wearing a bike helmet, and she sustained face and head injuries. She is in stable condition.

The bicycle accident occurred at about 2:40 p.m. in Orlo Vista, a west Orange County suburb. The child was riding along Powers Drive just north of Old Winter Garden Road.

Unfortunately, the little girl was not an experienced biker and was having some trouble. She tried to turn her bike away from the roadway, a witness told police, but “failed to turn or stop due to inexperience riding the bike.”

A 66-year-old Ocoee man was driving northbound in a Chevy Pickup when he encountered the young rider. He tried to stop, according to troopers, but the right front-end of his pickup struck the back of the girl’s bicycle, throwing her to the pavement.

The child was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando. Hospital officials say she had serious trauma to her face and head but was in stable condition. As of yesterday, doctors did not know if she had sustained a brain injury in the car accident, which is a serious possibility whenever a bicyclist is involved in an accident while not wearing a bike helmet.
It is also not known if an adult was supervising the girl’s riding before the bicycle accident.

The Florida Highway Patrol report did not list any charges pending against the truck driver.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, “7-year-old girl suffers serious injury to head, face in crash near Orlo Vista,” Walter Pacheco, February 20, 2011

A commercial truck driver was killed this morning after he swerved to avoid a speeding car that cut him off on I-4 in Seminole County. When the other vehicle entered the highway from the Lake Mary entrance ramp at a high rate of speed, the 24-year-old truck driver swerved left and ran into the guardrail. He was declared dead at the scene.

The fatal truck accident is still under investigation, the Florida Highway Patrol says, and police have not been able to obtain enough information to identify the reckless driver responsible for the wreck.

According to FHP Sergeant Kim Montes, the young commercial driver, a man from Apopka, was behind the wheel of tractor-trailer carrying flowers and plants. He was in the center lane of I-4, headed eastbound at around 8:11 a.m. this morning when the speeding driver cut him off. The other driver presumably entered the freeway and immediately crossed the right lane.
When the delivery truck struck the highway guardrail, the truck overturned. The driver, who had not been wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected. The impact of the collision was so great that it twisted the truck’s trailer.

Traffic on eastbound I-4 was snarled for more than two hours after the truck accident, as the FHP investigated the crash and road crews cleaned up motor oil that had spilled from the wrecked truck.

The FHP told the Orlando Sentinel that they would not identify the young commercial driver until his next of kin had been notified of his wrongful death.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, “FHP names driver killed in crash that snarled I-4,” Walter Pacheco and Anika Myers Palm, February 24, 2011

Researchers at the Greensboro Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering in North Carolina are developing a new tool that could radically improve how we detect brain injuries after accidents. Instead of requiring the use of an MRI or CAT scan — which can only detect relatively serious injuries to the brain and can only be used in a hospital or clinic — the researchers are building a hand-held tool that could detect even mild traumatic brain injuries at the scene of the accident.

Currently, milder brain trauma such as mild traumatic brain injuries and concussions are among the most difficult injuries for doctors to diagnose, according to lead researcher Marinella Sandros. However, growing scientific research points to the idea that these less-obvious brain injuries can lead to devastating consequences, especially if they are missed.
Repeated concussions, such as those incurred during organized sports, have recently been linked to permanent damage in the brain. Mild traumatic brain injury may lead to a number of long-term problems ranging from clinical depression to memory loss, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Any brain injury requires treatment, and that treatment can include long periods of rest. Instead, many people shake it off after sustaining a blow to the head and go right back to their activities. Any further injury, however, can substantially worsen the brain injury.

Getting appropriate treatment as soon as possible after any brain injury can also greatly increase the effectiveness of that treatment.

So, finding a way to detect a brain injury right away at the scene of a car wreck or sports accident would be extremely useful to doctors and could save countless people from needless suffering and disability.

Hand-Held Device Would Measure Compounds in Blood or Bodily Fluids

The device Sandros and her team are working on would allow first responders to take a blood, saliva or urine sample from the accident victim and quickly test it for compounds the body releases when it is injured. The levels of those compounds could indicate a brain injury has occurred.

The technology to perform this type of test currently exists, but it requires specialized equipment and training so it is primarily done only in research labs.

“What we’re really looking to do is take out all of those complexities and package this in a way that’s going to be much more usable on the spot,” says microbiologist Vince Henrich, the director of the Center for Biotechnology and Health Research at UNCG and one of the researchers working on the project.

Ideally, the team hopes to develop a prototype by the end of this year, which would then be put into tests and clinical trials. If they succeed, the finished device could be available within five years — and as widely available as automated external defibrillators (AEDs) within a few years after that.

Source: ESPN Action Sports, “Brain injury detection on the hill?” Cameron Walker, January 3, 2011

A four-vehicle pileup in a construction zone ended with two people dead and two more critically injured on Wednesday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The tragic multi-vehicle accident apparently occurred when a produce truck failed to slow down at an overpass and struck three other vehicles from behind, causing one of them to catch fire. A construction worker was also hit as he tried to flee the crash.
The truck accident occurred around 9:50 p.m. January 6 at the Malabar overpass construction area on southbound I-95. It was in fact the third accident of the day in the construction zone, where a lane is being added in each direction. In an earlier car accident, a vehicle left the northbound side of the Interstate and careened into the parking lot of a car dealership on Malabar Road.

In the late-evening multi-vehicle crash, the driver of a tractor-trailer truck carrying produce for American Fruit & Produce in Opalocka failed to notice that the traffic ahead of him had slowed.

“There was no braking until the impact,” Corporal Jim Nusl of the Florida Highway Patrol, who is leading the investigation, told the press.

The produce truck apparently struck an Infiniti sedan and ran up on the back of the car, losing its brakes and dragging the Infiniti for 760 feet. Then the truck rear-ended two other vehicles — one of which, a pickup truck, caught fire.

Both occupants of the Infiniti were killed, as was their dog. The vehicle was so damaged that it was difficult to determine how many people were inside, and the Infiniti was hauled away after the fatal car accident with the occupants still inside.
The driver and passenger of the first rear-ended car were taken by helicopter to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne in critical condition.

At first, the driver of the burning pickup truck appeared to be immobilized by shock. An FHP trooper was able to pull him out of the burning F150, however, and he sustained only minor injuries, according to the reports.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not seriously injured.
The massive truck accident left behind a trail of scrapes and skid marks on the new asphalt, along with a roadway strewn with wreckage and personal objects. Southbound I-95 between Palm Bay and Fellsmere roads was closed until 2 a.m. Thursday morning. It is currently open except for the right-hand lane, which is still under construction.

According to the FHP, the cause of the truck wreck is under investigation, and charges are pending against the commercial driver.

Source: TCpalm.com, “Two Palm Bay residents killed, two critically hurt in I-95 wreck overnight,” January 6, 2011

A five-year-old boy was bitten by a dog in Palm Bay on Friday evening after he apparently grabbed the animal or attempted to ride it like a horse. The dog bite occurred when the child was left unsupervised for a few minutes at a family friend’s home. The boy sustained a facial wound and a severe ear tear.

According to Palm Bay police, the child’s mother had dropped him off at a friend’s house on January 7. About ten minutes later, at around 5 p.m., the friend left for a moment so she could go to the bathroom. According to witnesses, the boy then either grabbed the dog by the collar or attempted to ride it.

The growling dog then took hold of the boy’s head with its jaws and shook him. The dog bite resulted in numerous facial injuries to the child, including a four-inch wound beneath one eye. The boy’s ear was also torn to the cartilage.

“I got a call from my girlfriend and she told me the dog had bitten my baby’s face off. He has a fractured eye socket and damage to two major nerves,” said the boy’s mother.
Paramedics took the boy to the emergency room at Palm Bay Community Hospital, and police were called in.

“He’ll need reconstructive surgery and they had a plastic surgeon come in to evaluate him. No charges were filed but animals services did issue a citation to remove the dog,” said Palm Bay Police Department spokesperson Yvonne Martinez. The dog has been quarantined by Brevard County Animal Services, which is investigating. The Department of Children and Families has also initiated an investigation.

Always Supervise Small Children Around Dogs — Even Familiar Dogs

A dog bite can be a terrifying and painful experience for anyone, especially a child. It is important to remember that even dogs who are familiar to us and have never shown threatening behavior in the past can bite under the right circumstances.

Although socializing dogs properly is key, it is important to remember that not all dogs do well with children. As in this case, small children are prone to do things that a dog may find threatening. Many children do not understand how to behave around dogs or how to recognize when a dog is feeling nervous or threatened.

Teach your children how to act around dogs and how to recognize the warning signs of aggression. Proper animal socialization and education of children won’t stop all bites, but it can minimize the risk that a dog will respond aggressively to a perceived threat and reduce the chance that your child will unwittingly do something the dog perceives as threatening.
Luckily, despite the serious injuries to the child, this boy appears to be recovering well.

“It’s traumatic but he’s doing as good as can be expected,” said his mother. “I mean, he’s telling me to sit down. I was running back and forth and pacing up and down at the hospital and he was like, ‘mama, its going to be OK.'”

Source: Florida Today, “Boy recovering after pit bull attack in Palm Bay,” J.D. Gallop, January 10, 2011