Those who seek the aid of emergency room staff are in need of urgent, competent treatment from doctors and nurses who take the utmost care to ensure a patient gets treated and diagnosed according to the standard of care. 

Unfortunately, medical practitioners do not always meet their duty in this regard, and patients often suffer tremendously when an illness is misdiagnosed or poorly treated because of an emergency room mistake. Because emergency rooms are often hectic places with stressed, overworked staff who do not have ongoing relationships with patients, failure to diagnose and improper treatment may be more common than in traditional doctors’ offices. In some cases, this may rise to the level of medical malpractice. 

Common Emergency Room Errors

Medical mistakes have been pinpointed as the third leading cause of death in the United States, and research suggests that errors in emergency rooms are particularly common and occur in nearly every aspect of emergency care. Because staff are often switching between patients and changing shifts, small mistakes can quickly be exacerbated by poor communication or incorrect information. Other common mistakes include: 

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Chemicals are everywhere in our environment. Even things that we use every day, like vinegar and baking soda, are chemicals or chemical compounds. Most of the chemicals in our environment pose no risk to us, even with daily exposure. Sometimes, however, we are exposed to dangerous chemicals without even knowing it. 

Certain workplaces are known to carry the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals, but even places like your home, streets, and grocery stores may have strong chemicals present that are not always managed correctly. We may unintentionally ingest them, get them on our skin or eyes, or breathe them in. While certain chemical exposures are unavoidable, other times a chemical can get into inappropriate areas due to negligence, serious accidents, or poor management. If you have been injured by exposure to chemicals in the Winnebago County area, a skilled personal injury attorney may be able to help. 

Signs of Toxic Chemical Exposure

While the specific signs of chemical exposure can vary according to the chemical in question, certain symptoms are common. Short-term effects include, but are not limited to: 

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Children in Illinois daycares frequently have severe food allergies. Daycare staff must be made aware of these allergies and adequately train staff to recognize and respond to signs of an allergic reaction. Because allergic reactions can be life-threateningly severe, daycare staff and managers need to track, plan, and carefully prepare meals to avoid giving children foods to which they are allergic. But when a daycare is careless or understaffed, the risk of accidentally exposing a child to a dangerous allergen increases. If your child was given food to which they are allergic at their daycare, the daycare may be liable for any food allergy injury that resulted. 

Inadequate Staffing Increases Risk of Allergen Exposure

A new 2021 law requires daycare and school employees to recognize and treat signs of anaphylactic shock. Ideally, a child in daycare will never be exposed to anything to which she is allergic, but this law is intended to save lives if a child is accidentally given unsafe food. 

However, if a daycare is understaffed and employees have to manage more children than they can reasonably care for, a child’s risk of allergic food exposure increases, along with the risk of overworked staff who might miss signs of an allergic reaction. Parents should be aware of the staff-child ratios required in Illinois daycares so they can be on the alert for signs of understaffing: 

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Vehicle airbags are often subject to conditions that have the potential to deteriorate the condition of the airbags long before they are ever deployed in a car accident. Extreme temperature fluctuations, humidity, and other environmental conditions have the potential to degrade airbags and make them defective, less effective, or even dangerous. 

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a major recall several years ago that involved tens of millions of vehicles that had airbags that could potentially explode and cause serious injury or death. While lives were undoubtedly saved by the recall, other lives in Illinois continue to be prematurely shortened or diminished in quality when a defective airbag deploys improperly. 

How Should an Effective Airbag Work? 

While airbags are not a foolproof method for preventing serious injury or death in a car accident, they are often effective in keeping a car accident victim’s face away from the steering column and dashboard. When a car is involved in a crash, a special sensor detects the impact and a carefully controlled system fills an airbag with gas that rapidly inflates the airbag at over 200 miles per hour, cushioning the impact of the crash and reducing damage to the head and body. 

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Hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois go grocery shopping every day without incident. But sometimes, what should have been a fast and easy trip to buy milk can turn into a nightmare scenario. Grocery stores that are not properly maintained and kept clean can quickly present a variety of hazards to unsuspecting customers, including slippery floors, loose electric wires, broken glass, and heavy falling objects. 

The consequences of these conditions can leave customers with serious and long-lasting injuries that require extensive and ongoing medical care. If you have been injured in a Winnebago County retail store and want to know whether you may be able to pursue compensation under Illinois’ premises liability laws, read on. 

When Can Someone Sue a Store for an Injury? 

Illinois law has specific sections discussing the responsibility that store owners have to visitors, shoppers, and even just someone stopping in to use the bathroom. Store owners and managers are legally responsible for keeping their stores free of hazards. While this means that a grocery store owner may not be responsible for every injury (such as if the customer’s own behavior was the proximate cause of the injury), certain conditions in the store that are caused by neglect or carelessness could cause injuries for which the grocery store is responsible. 

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