This week is National Drowning Prevention Week.
According to statistics from the Life Saving Society of Nova Scotia this week experiences the highest number of drowning’s compared to other weeks in the year.
Boaters most at risk
Just a quick reminder for anyone who hasn’t been next to a radio, television or newspaper in the last few days…the first Hurricane of the year is expected to make landfall in Halifax this weekend.
Hurricane Arthur is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches Halifax. Even so Environment Canada has issued a weather alert:
Tropical storm-force winds of 70 gusting to 100 km/h over exposed areas from Hurricane Arthur can be expected over the above regions.
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal recently released its reasons in Blunden Construction Ltd. v. Fougere. The case is important because it reviews the law regarding summary judgment and provides an analysis of the test for summary judgement outlined in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal’s decision in Burton Canada Co v. Coady and reconciles it with the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v. Mauldin.
Background Facts
The Plaintiff, William Fougere was a teacher who became ill with a lung condition that he claimed was caused by dust produced during construction of an elevator inside the school where Fougere worked. Fougere sued the construction company, Blunden Construction Limited who joined the architectural firm, Fowler, Bauld & Mitchell Limited as a third party.
According to a study conducted in Sweden the answer is most certainly yes!
Research conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden determined that approximately 30% of children injured in car accidents end up suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Long lasting effects
The research by Eva Olofsson went on to determine that up to 20% of children still suffer from the mental and psychosocial effects of PTSD up to a year post accident.
Psychological injuries last longer than physical injuries?
Halifax Regional Police are looking for a hit and run driver who struck a 22 year old pedestrian who was crossing North Park Street at a marked crosswalk. She was hit by a car turning left from Cogswell Street that left the scene of the accident.
CTV News reported that the pedestrian was taken to the hospital with “non-life threating injuries.”
Fortunately the pedestrian in this accident does not appear to have been seriously hurt. But even non-life threatening injuries can cause long term pain, inconvenience and income loss.
School is winding up for the year and families are preparing for summer vacation. For many familes that means trips to the United states or somewhere else outside of Canada. careful parents usually include travel health insurance on their “to do” list when getting ready for family travel.
But does travel insurancce protect you the way you think it does?
Travel Insurance Company Denies Couples Huge Medical Bill Claim
Obviously a football player would never go onto the field without his/her helmet. But a new study concludes that helmets may provide a false sense of security when it comes to protecting players against the effects of concussion.
Concussions a Major Risk for Young Athletes
One of the co-authors of the study, Dr. Frank Conidi stated “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, who’s still developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”. Conidi is the Vice Chair of the American Academy of Sports Neurology Section.
Only a 20% Risk Reduction
Researchers tested the ten most popular football helmet designs to see how well they protected against traumatic brain injury. The office of the study found that football helmets only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by about 20% compared to wearing no helmet at all. While 20% is not insignificant it is a surprisingly low figure and one that seems counterintuitive.
One of the things I deal with every day as a personal injury lawyer in Nova Scotia are clients who have suffered significant injuries that result in long term chronic pain.
Invisible injury
Chronic pain cases can be difficult to prove because the injury is invisible. There is no X-ray that you can produce to show the client’s broken bone, no photographs of scars, and there is no such thing as a “Pain-o-Meter” to show the extent and what kind of pain the client is suffering.
Reasons for judgment were issued recently in an interesting case: MacKean v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada
The plaintiffs were injured in a car accident with an uninsured driver. The plaintiffs settled their claim against their own insurer under the uninsured driver provisions of their own automobile policy. When the claim was settled, the plaintiffs assigned their claim to their insurer RSA.
The uninsured driver was sued but failed to file a defence and had a default judgment entered against him.
It’s the time of year that hockey is on the minds of many Canadians as we gear up for a Christmas tradition, watching the World Juniour Hockey tournament in Sweden.
Concussion Class Action
But in the United States, hockey is in the news for a different reason. Ten former National Hockey League players have filed a class action against the NHL claiming the league concealed evidence of the risks posed by repeated concussions and failed to protect players from head injuries by failing to implement rules that would protect players from head shots and other high risk behaviour.
