Be a Good Passenger

We've all heard about being a safe driver, but sometimes we're not behind the wheel controlling the situation. Despite this, there are still things passengers can follow to contribute to a safer journey.

1. Don't distract the driver - either by showing them something on your phone, pointing something out in the area, or suddenly yelling at them.
2. Always wear your seat belt the way it's intended. This ensures that if an accident were to occur, you would have the best protection available.
3. Never get into a car with an intoxicated driver. Call a cab.

4. Do not steer the car for the driver from the passenger seat, even for a few seconds. This greatly lowers the reflexes of the driver and may result in an accident or worse. This also puts the passenger in a dangerous position should the car's airbags deploy.

5. Do not eat in the car. This one is not just to keep the interiors clean, but also supports the driver to not do the same. Numerous accidents occur every year due to food related crashes.

6. Do not wear headphones in the car. While you may not be driving, being constantly aware of your surroundings is important. This way, you'll be able to warn the driver if he or she overlooks anything.

7. On long drives or road trips, stay awake and talk to the driver to keep them talkative and active. This helps the driver stem off being sleepy. Swap places with them if they are not comfortable enough to drive. Never risk it.

Fall Safety Tips

With summer drawing to a close and fall beginning to take form across the nation, people seem to breathe a little easier when it comes to safety. No more pool parties, slippery water slides, or trips to the beach. But much like summer, fall has its own list of tips to take notice of, especially when most people and their guests begin to move indoors.


1. First and foremost, it's time to move all that summer gear to the storage shed. Many areas are notorious for getting snow in the fall and having pool toys laying around the yard or patio is a great way for a guest to trip and hurt themselves.


2. Keeping bags of sidewalk salt prepared to prevent icy walkways is always a good rule of thumb when heading into the coming months. This not only protects you, but your neighbors and mailman, too.


3. As a majority of activities will be taking place inside the house, make sure to test all smoke alarms and replace any batteries.


4. If you have a fireplace, make sure you clean the chimney before using it. Debris and other materials may have accumulated in it throughout the spring and summer.


5. Candles are nice for mood setting and smells, but never leave one unattended. Also clear away any items around the candle that may catch fire.

6. Since our area receives a lot of snow, make sure your roof is clean and prepared to handle the coming months of snowfall. House roofs have been known to collapse from the weight of the snow and injure those within.


7. Fix any steps or walkways around the house that may have become dislodged or loosened in preparation for winter.


8. Since your heater will most likely be on, and windows shut, install a carbon monoxide sensor in your home.

While there are plenty more safety tips around, these are just the start at helping keep you and your guests safe and accident free.

Hiking Safety Tips

Shirley Ladd, a 22-year old woman from New Hampshire, died at Acadia National Park Saturday. Ladd was hiking with another person when she fell 60-75 feet off of a hiking trail. The rescue for Ladd took 5 ½ hours and a team of 31 people from various groups including Lifeflight of Maine, Acadia Mountain Guides, and Bar Harbor Fire Department. Ladd was pronounced dead after arriving at Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Many people enjoy hiking, but hiking can be very dangerous. It is imperative to obey rules and be prepared for emergencies. Always stay on the designated trail. Never wonder off the trail because it may not be safe. There could be slip, trip, and fall hazards, poisonous plants, and other things lurking. Another rule of thumb, follow all posted signs. They are there for a reason.

Taking the “buddy” approach is also important when going hiking. If you have at least two or three other people with you, you can all watch out for each other and someone is there to get help if something happens to a member of your party. Be considerate to other hikers on the trail. Leave any gate how you found it, do not change or move signs around, and do not remove someone else’s flags.

Before you go on your next hike; be prepared. Always keep an up-to-date map of the location. Carry a compass and GPS with you just in case you get lost. Wear the proper attire such as solid hiking boots. Bring extra water, especially on hot summer days to prevent dehydration and other heat related illnesses. It is also a good idea to bring a first aid kit of some sort, even if it’s a short day trip.

Drive Safe!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States for people ages 5-34. With summer at its peak, and back to school around the corner there are a few things to keep in mind while on the roadways. Most traffic collisions are avoidable if the proper precautions are followed. Road traffic collisions account for the majority of personal injury claims. The CDC has classified motor vehicle accidents as a “serious public health matter.”

Next to distracted driving, especially due to cell phone use, young drivers may be a potential risk on the road because of lack of driving experience. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one leading cause of death among teens in the U.S. The most at-risk teen drivers include; males, newly licensed teens, and teen drivers with teen passengers. Distracted driving, lack of experience, and recklessness all play a role in the rate of teen accidents. Parents need to speak with their children about safe driving practices.

Another tip for staying safe on the road includes making sure younger children and infants are properly secured in motor vehicles. Safely securing infants in the proper car seat reduces the risk of death by 71% and 54% for toddlers. Children are too little to brace the impact of an accident, thus needing a safety restraint. Also, never let a child ride in the front seat of a car, ride in a car without a seat belt, car seat, or booster seat, or be in the car without adult supervision.

Driving irresponsibly is not worth taking a life or getting injured. So practice safe driving. Often accidents can be prevented, but for those hazards that cause accidents that deem inevitable, being prepared and having the proper car seat, etc. may broaden the chances of survival upon impact. And remember to keep teen drivers aware of the dangers of distracted driving.

Tips To Keep Your Family Safe This Summer

Many incidents resulting in injury or death occur because of the failure to follow basic safety rules. Violating safety rules needlessly endangers people. Following community safety rules prevents harm to individuals in any situation.

When we think pool safety, we generally think of “child safety.” However adults need to stay safe as well.

A swimming pool can be an oasis of fun filled entertainment as a means to beat the heat and enjoy the summer. Unfortunately, that oasis can many times become a danger zone when safety rules are ignored and violated. We all know that children should always have adult supervision when swimming to prevent drownings. However drowning isn’t all that occurs. The pool and it’s surrounding area can offer up many dangers. Slipping accounts for a plethora of deaths and injuries each year for both children and adults. Pets also succumb to a myriad of injury and death as well. So what can you do to ensure that you have the safest habitat for outdoor entertainment as possible?

1. Prevention
Injuries can happen at anytime however preparation can be the saving factor to prevent such events. Make sure to contain the pool area, a fence is ideal and in many communities a requirement. Yes it can be costly, but having a fence will reduce or even eliminate incidents. Many states such as Arizona require it. Do not over crowd your pool with toys, make sure you can see straight to the bottom of the pool should you need to. Adults, be wary of drinking alcohol while swimming. Should you drink too much and pass out, it could be the difference between “sleeping it off” and drowning.

2. Communication
Always let someone know you are swimming... even adults. Sound silly? Not really. If you talk to your neighbors, instruct them on how to access the backyard pool (in the event of an emergency) and you will at least have helping hands should you need them. Keeping a phone near the pool can be a life saver in the event of an emergency as well. Also, if there is a pool party, even if there are many adults around the pool designate at least one adult to supervise the children. Never simply assume someone is watching them.

3. Learn CPR
What’s a couple of Saturdays out of your month? In the time it takes to watch a few ball games, you can become CPR certified. If you own a pool, you owe it to yourself and your family to learn! Coincide CPR lessons with swim lessons for your family and you will have a happy and safe summer.

There are many things to remember around the swimming pool. Most important is safety and prevention. Check in, check often, check off everything on the safety list.

Stay Safe During Summer Road Trips

With summer approaching, people will be hitting the road for family road trips. It’s an age old tradition for families across America to jump in the car and see this great country of ours. Since the advent of the automobile and the highway, we have been a nomadic people; longing to see the country that we call home.

Before you head out to see Aunt Sue in Ohio, or Grandpa Albert in New Mexico, take a few things into account to make sure you and your friends and loved ones have a safe and happy road trip.

We all know the dangers of drunk driving and should look out for, and report anyone doing it, however other dangers exist the results of which can be equally fatal. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, we become more and more dependent on our hand-held devices; to get us places, communicate, document, etc. While these gadgets and gizmos have enhanced our lives and made them much more convenient, they have also taken away a great deal of our attention. As a result, automobile crashes caused by distractions are rivaling those caused by drunk driving. In many cases, texting can inhibit your senses and response time as much as a few cocktails.

Almost everyone’s phone is a portable entertainment center, office, library, message center and more. Just because it’s small, it doesn't mean it won’t consume as much of your attention as if you actually had a copy machine in your car along with a desktop computer, a couple of photo albums, a stack of mail, and a movie playing on a plasma screen all at the same time.

Once the “task of driving” takes a back seat to your cell phone, everyone on the road is in danger. Failing to follow the safe driving rules of the road needlessly endangers everyone including you and those in your car.

The solution? Follow basic safety rules. Make your phone inaccessible while driving. If you must take a call, use a hands-free device. (Although more and more studies are showing that to be just as distractive as well). Otherwise, turn it off and enjoy the ride. You have a responsibility as a motorist to yourself, your passengers, and those you share the road with to be safe and not to needlessly endanger anyone.

Massachusetts Hospitals Pilot Apology Program

A group of six healthcare organizations announced on April 18th, 2012, that the new “Disclosure, Apology and Offer” process will be piloted this year in seven Massachusetts hospitals. This process will require disclosure to patients when a medical error is made during the course of the patient's care. Once the error is investigated, an apology is issued and financial settlement is offered in lieu of legal action.

“This idea that you have to wait for five years (for a suit) to play itself out in the legal system before you can get an explanation that you need to heal, I think it’s unacceptable,” says Dr. Ashley Yeats, chief medical officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton. “ It takes precious time away from patients, it takes time away from physicians, and it ultimately takes good people, I think, out of the health care system.”

While more transparency among health care providers is a good thing, it is cause for concern when the entire process can be controlled by the hospital itself. If it is decided that malpractice has occurred, the hospital then apologizes and makes an offer to the patient. In accepting that offer, the patient signs away all of their legal rights - even if the patient requires future medical treatment that the settlement did not account for.

The hospitals say that patients will be “encouraged” to hire their own counsel to evaluate whether an offer is fair, however counsel is not required. And since the overall goal of the program is to prevent any litigation, a representative from the hospital would most likely offer a settlement that would be keeping in line with the hospital’s need to lower medical malpractice costs. How could the average person be capable of making a fair minded decision as to whether the amount in the settlement is a reasonable number without the assistance of an attorney that is looking out for your best interests?

Suffolk University Law professor Gabriel H. Teninbaum reviewed apology programs across the country and wrote this about the University of Michigan hospital system (UMHS) on which the Massachusetts apology program is based:

“Patients need an advocate because programs like UMHS have attorneys whose primary obligation is to protect the assets of their organization. This dynamic results in what is, in actuality, an adversarial environment that simply uses collaborative language. Without legal advice of their own, patients who take part in apology programs must trust that risk managers would violate their obligation to their own employer (of keeping overall costs low), in order to give them an appropriate settlement. There is simply no evidence that this has, or will, occur and no program has released any data to that effect…

In other words, it has not been made public whether patients with valid claims for malpractice are giving up some compensation to which they are entitled in exchange for the warm discussions UMHS provides. If the small glimpse provided by [one anecdotal] case isrepresentative of what UMHS does, then the organization derives significant financial benefits by paying less money to patients injured by medical errors.”

If an “apology” is accepted by the patient, an apology protection provision would be included that would prevent a litigant from “parroting back” a physician's acknowledgment of error while in a lawsuit. Even though these systems allow the involvement of an attorney, they should require it. It should be certain that all victims of medical malpractice are fully aware of their options. And while honesty is the best policy, in this instance it comes with a caveat - your legal rights.

It cannot be emphasized enough that people need legal counsel when making important financial decisions. Considering settlement of a personal injury claim - medical malpractice or otherwise - is an important financial decision. In addition to surrendering certain legal rights the decision will impact your life for years to come. Getting legal counsel in advance can help insure that you make the right decision and protect your legal rights.