Under the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act, home care agencies in California are now required to be licensed with the state and provide their staff with mandatory training in first aid, CPR and emergency procedures. In addition, their caregivers must pass a criminal background check and register with the Department of Social Services.

Independent caregivers are also required to be licensed before providing any type of home care services. Elderly individuals or their families can then check the state’s database to ensure the caregivers are registered. Prior to this law, only those providing medical services at home were subjected to certification requirements and background checks.

Agencies that are not licensed may incur fines of up to $900 per day. The legislation comes after reports of senior citizens in California suffering embezzlement, fraud and abuse at the hands of home caregivers. The hope is that the Act will help usher in stricter standards to the state’s home care industry, which has lacked oversight and regulation.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
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In Florida, F.S. 768.13 is the Good Samaritan Act, which spells out immunity from civil liability under certain circumstances. The law says that any person – including those who practice medicine for a living – who gratuitously (not for charge) and in good faith render emergency treatment or care to someone either directly in response to an emergency or in a situation that arises out of a public health emergency without the objection of the victim or victims won’t be held liable. This statute generally applies when individuals are at the site of an emergency, outside of a hospital, doctor’s office or some other location that has the necessary medical equipment.

There are some very specific circumstances that have to be in place for a medical professional not to be liable for negligent care they render, but this could be used as one possible defense.

In the recent personal injury lawsuit of Carter v. Reese, the Ohio Supreme Court was tasked with determining a person could be liable for injury caused while attempting to help someone.

According to court records, plaintiff was a truck driver for a company called S&S. He pulled his tractor-trailer into a loading dock owned by another firm. The purpose was to deliver one empty trailer and pick up another. After he affixed the second trailer to the truck, he pulled the truck about six inches away from the loading dock and locked the brake of the trailer so the wheels couldn’t move. As he pulled himself onto the dock to close the door of the trailer, he slipped. His leg got stuck between the loading dock and the trailer. At that point, he didn’t feel any physical pain, but he couldn’t get himself free. He started to yell for help and bang on the loading dock door, trying to get someone to come and help him.

Approximately 10 minutes later, defendant heard plaintiff and drove to the lot. Plaintiff told him to get into plaintiff’s truck and move it about a foot forward but, “Whatever you do, don’t put it in reverse.”

Defendant’s response: “No problem.”

But it was a problem because as soon as defendant got behind the wheel and put it in neutral, he realized he didn’t know how to operate the rig. The truck revved three times. The air brake released. The tractor rolled backwards and broke plaintiff’s leg. So severe were his injuries, his right leg had to be amputated above the knee.

Plaintiff and his wife sued for personal injury alleging negligence. However, they did not assert defendant had engaged in willful or wanton misconduct – which would have been the only way to overcome the Good Samaritan statute that defendant countered with.

Trial court granted summary judgment to defendant and the court of appeals affirmed, explaining that in this type of emergency situation where a man’s leg was pinned between the truck and the loading dock, defendant’s actions in trying to move the truck did constitute as emergency care because he was trying to resolve the emergency created by plaintiff. Further, defendant’s misconduct was not wanton or willful.

Ohio Supreme Court affirmed. Plaintiff had argued the state statute was applicable only to those who render emergency medical treatment, but the court rejected that interpretation, finding that if the legislature had wanted to restrict it to those circumstances, it could have done so.

If you have been a victim of a traffic accident, call Chalik & Chalik at (954) 476-1000 or 1 (800) 873-9040.

Additional Resources:

Carter v. Reese, Aug. 30, 2016, Ohio Supreme Court

More Blog Entries:

Tundidor v. Miami-Dade County – Canal Doesn’t Fall Under Maritime Law in Negligence Case, Aug. 15, 2016, Miami Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Authorities told 7News Miami the operator was a 25-year-old man who lost control of the personal watercraft while his girlfriend and another woman were riding on the rear. He was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed and traveling in circles (also sometimes referred to as “loops”). A commissioner ascertained the operator lost sight of where he was, which is when he struck the channel marker.

The operator was ejected from the WaveRunner, striking his head on the channel marker. Witnesses nearby pulled him from the water and initiated CPR. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. His girlfriend was hospitalized with a serious leg injury. The third passenger was treated and released. 

The decedent reportedly owned a barber shop and frequented Picnic Island on the weekends.

Officials are still investigating the crash, and it’s not yet clear whether drugs or alcohol may have played a role. It’s also not known whether the victim rented the WaveRunner or whether he owned it. These distinctions could make a difference in terms of liability.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported that in 2015, there were a total of 161 personal watercraft accidents reported statewide. That was out of more than 117,000 registered personal watercraft in the state. There were a total of four deaths and nearly 130 injuries.

Miami-Dade has more personal watercraft accidents than any other county, likely owed to the fact that we have more shoreline and are a more popular vacation destination. Last year, there were a total of 33 personal watercraft accidents reported in Miami-Dade. Although there were no deaths, there were 29 serious injuries.

Broward County, meanwhile, reported four personal watercraft accidents resulting in four injuries, but no deaths.

Monroe County, meanwhile, ranked No. 2 for personal watercraft accidents, with a total of 25 last year. Pinellas County had 24.

Personal watercraft are sometimes referred to by the brand names, which include:

• WaveRunner
• Jet Ski
• Sea Doo
• AquaTrax
• Sealion
• Tigershark

The FWC reports the majority of these crashes occur while these vehicles are either cruising, changing direction or changing speed. The primary types of accident resulting in injury include:

• Collision with vessel;
• Collision with fixed object;
• Fall on personal watercraft;
• Fall overboard.

In many cases, investigators find that operators lack experience and take on operation of the vehicle without adequate instruction or precaution. Experienced personal watercraft operators most frequently run into trouble when they operate the vehicles recklessly, unnecessarily fast or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Some models of Jet Skis and WaveRunners are capable of very high speeds, and that has proven dangerous on many occasions.

Another possible avenue of liability is to explore the possible defect or malfunction of the machine itself. These type of issues would be pursued as a product liability claim. One of the most common involves injuries from the jet stream propulsion, which is extremely powerful and has been known to cause severe internal injuries to riders who are thrown off the back of the vessels.

If you have been a victim of a traffic accident, call Chalik & Chalik at (954) 476-1000 or 1 (800) 873-9040.

Additional Resources:

1 killed, 2 injured in personal watercraft accident off Miami, July 31, 2016, By Walter Morris, 7News Miami

More Blog Entries:

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Jakubowicz – Auto Insurance Policy Ambiguous, August 2, 2016, Miami Injury Attorney Blog

In December 2010, the patient, Nicholas Figaro, who was age 35 at the time, was taken to the hospital in Arlington Heights by ambulance with a complaint that he had suddenly felt stabbing chest pains. A chest x-ray was performed on him, and was interpreted as normal by Dr. Vinay Singh in spite of the fact that it revealed that the part of his aorta nearest to his heart was enlarged.

Figaro was admitted overnight, and the following morning he was subjected to a stress test, the results of which indicated that he had a cardiac abnormality, and that potentially, there was an insufficient supply of blood to his coronary arteries. However, the doctors interpreted that result as a false positive, and did not view it as a serious concern. Thus, they discharged him at about 5:00 p.m. on the day after he was admitted. Then, at 3 a.m., he got out of bed, and fell face forward into a nightstand. When his wife turned him over, he was unconscious. She and his father attempted to give him CPR, but he did not regain consciousness.

The results of the autopsy revealed that the cause of death was cardiac tamponade, which is a condition in which fluid fills the sac around the heart to the point at which the pressure causes the heart to stop beating. That occurred because a tear on the inner part of Figaro’s aorta caused its middle membrane to fill with blood, thereby subsequently causing the outer part of his aorta to burst.

The lawsuit alleged that the hospital was careless and negligent when Figaro’s doctors failed to treat his aortic dissection, and that Dr. Singh should have made a notation of an abnormality, and ordered additional testing.

If your loved one was injured or killed due to the negligence of a hospital, doctor, or other health care professional, call the medical malpractice attorneys at Briskman Briskman & Greenberg.

On July 8, 2014, Retired Navy Chief Engineman Shon Hollis was supposed to undergo a colonoscopy and endoscopy at Naval Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida. Today, Hollis is in a vegetative state, residing in a nursing home and unable to talk, walk, eat or communicate, a condition that the lawsuit claims was caused by brain damage suffered as the result of oxygen deprivation during the procedures.

According to the lawsuit, Hollis had been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea in 2008, a condition that requires anesthesiologists to take precautions to reduce the risk of complications. The lawsuit alleges that even though Hollis was diagnosed with sleep apnea at Naval Hospital and received treatment there, the doctors performing his colonoscopy were unaware of his condition and failed to take precautions.

The lawsuit also alleges that the “rapid sequence intubation” and CPR that were used to revive Hollis took too long, depriving his brain of oxygen for 22 minutes.

According to Jennifer Zeldis, a Navy Judge Advocate General spokeswoman, in the past five years, Naval Hospital Jacksonville has had 13 instances of alleged medical malpractice that resulted in claims.

If you need to speak with a Tampa nursing home abuse lawyer, Call Joyce & Reyes at 1.888.771.1529 or visit more of http://www.joyceandreyespa.com/.

Barksdale’s parents elected to file a wrongful death lawsuit against fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu and the chapter’s 2013 vice president, president and another chapter brother, after an autopsy indicated their son had died of alcohol poisoning. His BAC was four times over the legal limit.

According to court papers, chapter members handed the young man a 1.5-liter full bottle of vodka and forced him to drink it all. Apparently the fraternity chapter held the initiation party off campus because they knew there would be underage drinkers in attendance. The fraternity did not notify the university of the event.

Although 18-year-old Barksdale did not drink the whole bottle, he was severely intoxicated and collapsed at the party. Although fraternity brothers did realize Anthony was completely drunk, they took him outside and left him there, unattended. No one thought to seek medical assistance or call for emergency help.

Several hours later, Barksdale was brought back into the apartment building and deposited on the couch, but again, nothing was done to help him. It was not until he threw up that people realized he needed help and placed a call to 911. As emergency responders were on their way, another partygoer performed CPR and succeeded in temporarily reviving him. But he passed out once again and quit breathing. EMS arrived on the scene just after midnight but could not revive him. He died at the hospital.

The family hopes that their wrongful death lawsuit sends a strong, clear message that this kind of event should never happen again — to anyone.

In the meantime, the family had to deal with the pressing necessity of an expensive funeral and burial plus end of life medical assistance. They may find the right financial solution online by applying for a lawsuit loan from a litigation funding company.

Pre-settlement funding can be a lifesaver in situations like this one where the family is suddenly tasked with trying to find enough money to pay for unexpected bills. A lawsuit loan allows them to pay all of their expenses, including the usual and the extraordinary, while they take time to heal and consult with legal counsel for case preparation.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit http://www.litigationfundingcorp.com/.

I hesitate to call it a vacation, there were 200+ kids there after all, but it was a great experience that brought several lessons.

1. Know Your First Aid

In their advancement and merit badge work, these scouts spend a lot of time learning about various first aid topics. Fortunately, most of it is hypothetical.

But we had an incident that was a good reminder of why it’s important. As part of our day in Boston, our troop headed to Fenway Park and attended a Red Sox/Astros baseball game.

All was going well until a fan a few rows below us started screaming for help. One of our dads is a doctor, and he made his way down and discovered that the fan’s father didn’t have a pulse, likely having suffered a heart attack. The doctor/father and an EMT performed CPR, eventually saving the guy’s life.

This was a good reminder that the first aid these boys study is important. All of us should learn basic CPR, the Heimlich maneuver and other basic lifesaving skills.

2. Sharing/Working Together

This isn’t really a lesson, but a reminder. All week long, I watched kids help one another earn merit badges or learn new skills.

I’m biased, but perhaps my favorite story involved my son. He and three of our other boys took a merit badge class called Wilderness Survival.

The culmination of the Wilderness Survival merit badges required the boys to spend the night in the wilderness without tents, sleeping bags, or much other gear. All they were allowed to use was what they could fit in their pockets.

This experience was a great example of teamwork and sharing by my son. Working together, he and another boy in our troop built a pretty good shelter to protect them through the night. But my son was also more prepared than the other scout, having stuffed his pockets with an extra towel and his rain gear. As night fell and temperatures dropped, my son sacrificed his towel (used as a blanket) and his rain jacket to his friend so that the friend might stay a bit warmer during the cold night. As is often the case, I continue to be reminded by my kids about how we ought to sacrifice for one another.

3. Patience

I’ll admit that I’m a terrible fisherman. I don’t have a lot of experience fishing; I’m not good at fishing; I don’t really know what to do when I actually catch a fish; and I haven’t always been patient when I’m doing more fishing than catching. But my son took a fly fishing merit badge, and he loved it. We spent most afternoons on the “pond” (which was over 100 acres big) fly fishing — rather my son fished; I watched.   It was a lesson in patience, as I watched him struggle learning to cast that first afternoon. But by the end of the week, both he and I were getting the hang of it — him fishing, and me being patient.

4. Get Away From Electronics

I stressed out a lot before the trip about the prospect of not being connected to things back home — especially the office. And when we arrived, we did find that being out in the middle of nowhere really limited our connectivity. If you were standing on the right rock or around the right hill, you could get some service. But for most places, you were out of luck. And you know what? I survived. Not only that, but it was nice to not feel the pressure to check emails or texts. While I’m not going to go to the middle of nowhere back home, I am going to make an effort to put down the phone and not worry about being connected all the time.

A Durable Power of Attorney

Durable Power of Attorney (DPoA) for health care is a legally binding document that appoints another individual over your health care decisions when it is determined that you can not make these decisions for yourself. Note that the DPoA for health care applies only to health care decisions. Many often think of someone’s power of attorney as a person designated to make financial and legal decisions. While you may choose the same person, a DPoA for health care is separate from the DPoA for financial matters. The person you choose is referred to as your patient advocate and is empowered to make decisions about treatment, procedures, end-of-life care, organ donation and even arrange for you to be admitted to a nursing home or receive home health care. Your advocate’s responsibilities only last until your health is regained. It is not a permanent designation. You can also revoke your advocate and select someone else if you are considered “in sound mind.” There is a state-wide registry of DPoA’s for health care. So, if you are unconscious, your health care provider can have immediate access to your patient advocate’s name and contact information.

A Living Will

A living will provides individuals with a means of clearly expressing their health care choices. While they may overlap in some ways, the key difference between a living will and a DPoA for health care is that the DPoA focuses on who makes health care decisions. A living will focuses on what those predetermined decisions are. A living will is limited to end-of-life decisions, while an advocate under a DPoA may step in during any temporary disability. Often, individuals use both documents. A clearly-written living will helps the patient advocate fulfill his or her duties as DPoA. A living will specifically lays out what treatments and interventions you are willing to accept, including CPR, mechanical ventilation, tube feeding, dialysis, antibiotics, blood transfusions and pain medication. It can also specify instructions for organ or body donation.

What Estate Planning Documents Do You Need in Michigan?

It’s recommended that individuals have both documents that can work together, especially in Michigan. While 47 states have laws that make living wills legal documents, Michigan has not passed such legislation. In most cases, hospitals have honored them. However, there is no absolute assurance. Sadly, we’ve all heard of cases where families were at odds because no one could make the legal decision to end life. A DPoA for health care is the only absolute way to ensure your wishes are carried out in Michigan. However, a living will is still advisable to complement your DPoA. Having your wishes written down will alleviate controversy if other family members do not agree with the advocate’s decision.

Advance medical directives should be an important part of your estate planning at any age, but especially for the elderly. Traumatic events can occur at any time, making you incapable of making health care decisions. Thinking about health care options ahead of time and putting them in writing is difficult. However, it is loving on your part to remove difficult decision-making from those that love you. The Elder Care Firm specializes in helping older ones and their families prepare ahead. Contact us for a free consultation.

The post Why Include an Advance Medical Directive in Your Estate Planning in Michigan appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

The Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office stated that McKinney may be ready for release within a few days. Sheriff Patrick Toombs outlined the accident. According to his statement, the McKinneys and Robokoff were disassembling the pump jack in order to move it with a winch truck. 

As the truck backed up, Robokoff was pulling back a cable of the jack, which was in contact with the truck. When the cable touched the power line, it electrocuted Robokoff. Harvey McKinney, who was walking behind the truck, touched it in response. The power surged through the cable to the vehicle, killing McKinney as well. The driver of the truck was not injured. Toombs said that officials are currently unsure why the cable struck the electric line.

All three were employed by Rayco Pumping Unit Service of Midland. 

OSHA has launched an investigation into the incident. Investigators have not yet determined fault in the accident. Potential factors include the location and height of the power line, equipment failure, lack of supervision and unsafe working conditions in the oil field. Careful consideration will be required before any conclusions can be drawn.

By Mary Ellis LaGarde

The bicyclist, a Grand Rapids man of 52, was cycling up a hill on Egypt Valley Avenue when the SUV hit him from behind. Authorities said he died upon impact and that attempts to revive him using CPR were unsuccessful.

Steven Frederick Jones, 61, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and felony homicide. Authorities stated that Kent County prosecutors would determine whether additional charges should be … read more

An advance medical directive, also called an advance health care directive, allows you to designate a trusted person to make decisions for you. It also allows you to state your specific wishes concerning certain medical situations.

When you appoint an agent, you designate someone else to make health care and medical decisions for you whenever and if ever you are deemed incapable of making an informed decision yourself. Your agent will be authorized to make decisions based on your wishes as stated in the document, and if your wishes are unclear, the agent can then decide based on what he or she believes is in your best interests.

An advance medical directive may also include instructions regarding life-saving measures such as tube feeding, IV fluids or CPR in the event that your death is imminent and medical treatment will not help you recover, or if you are in a coma and it is reasonably certain you will not recover. You may decide that you do not want any such treatments, or that you want such treatments within the limits of general standards of health care. You may also provide specific instructions about treatments that you do or do not want.

The McDevitt Law Office can help you establish an advance medical directive as part of planning your estate.

Contact an estate planning lawyer with the McDevitt Law Office of call 1-571-223-7642.

Advance care directives and “living wills” are intended to provide health care workers with guidance on the type of care a patient wants to receive. However, studies show they are not consistently followed and may in fact have little effect on care, in part because the instructions provided within them are often not explicit.

A new alternative – available in many states and under development in others – is Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). The POLST is a standardized form indicating whether a patient wants any of a list of treatments to prolong life.

The list of treatments on a POLST form includes hospitalization, CPR, intensive care, intubation, antibiotics, assisted breathing, and others. After the patient completes the form, a physician reviews and signs it, and it becomes part of the individual’s permanent medical file. It is then available to and honored by all health care facilities.

The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published a study showing patients who had completed POLST forms were 59 percent less likely to receive medical treatment they did not want than those having only a “Do Not Resuscitate” order.

Click here to learn more.

This has got to be one of the most bizarre cases we have ever heard about. A U-Haul truck was moving around in the tailgating area at the Yale Bowl, hauling beer. Nothing was really out of the ordinary there, but for the fact that the truck ran over a woman, killing her. For some unknown reason, the truck suddenly accelerated, rolling over the hapless victim and two others, and subsequently smashing into other U-Haul vans in the same lot.

The 30-year-old woman received CPR from emergency responders, and was taken to the nearest hospital for care. Unfortunately, she died shortly after arriving. Both other injured women, hit by the same truck, were also taken to hospital. One victim sustained broken bones and was listed in serious, but stable condition. The third person was treated and released.

Police at the scene administered a field sobriety test to the U-Haul driver and discovered that he was not under the influence of alcohol. Whether he had been texting, talking on a cell phone, not paying attention to where he was going, or the vehicle had a mechanical glitch remains to be seen as the investigation proceeds.

Do the victims have causes of action? Yes. The dead woman’s family may wish to file a wrongful death lawsuit, and the two other victims might want to file personal injury lawsuits. In any of these scenarios, those filing a lawsuit will be cash strapped and wondering what they are going to do to pay their medical and other bills.

It is not unusual for the family of a deceased victim or those injured in an accident to find themselves facing a serious gap in their financial situation. Being without funds is indeed a tremendous financial hardship. Furthermore, waiting for a lawsuit to reach a settlement or conclude in a court verdict may take many months, if not years, making the financial situation even more dismal. The good news is that litigation funding can help.

A litigation funding company offers lawsuit funding. It is a cash advance for the plaintiff that they may apply for, and once approved, receive in advance of a pending settlement or jury verdict. With pre-settlement funding in the bank, the victim can pay medical expenses, therapy, medications and any other financial obligations. There is no need to suffer financial hardship when lawsuit loans are available.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit Litigationfundingcorp.com.