Written on November 22, 2023.
Written by James J. Kirshbaum. Posted in Premises Liability.
Swimming pools, typically associated with relaxation, can unfortunately be sites of accidents and injuries. For those affected, swimming pool accidents not only result in physical harm but also lead to accumulating medical expenses and potential loss of income. Swimmers visit a pool with the expectation of having fun and do not realize an owner’s negligence can lead to life-changing accidents and serious injuries.
As days progress, the injured party may face escalating financial stress. The mounting bills can become a significant concern, especially when coupled with the physical recovery process. Additionally, there’s the matter of accountability. The party responsible for ensuring the pool’s safety may not always recognize or address their negligence, leading to a feeling of unresolved injustice.
This is where an experienced Minnesota premises liability attorney becomes crucial. If you are facing the aftermath of a pool injury, you should consult a premises liability attorney. Such guidance can offer a structured path toward resolution and relief. To schedule your free consultation, contact Kirshbaum Injury Law at 952-545-2700.
What Accidents Can Occur at a Swimming Pool in Minnesota?
Unfortunately, slip-and-fall accidents are a realistic risk in private and public pool areas as potential hazards are lurking in every corner. If you slip and fall at a pool and sustain an injury, it could be due to several reasons. Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents at Minnesota swimming pools include the following.
Diving Boards
Diving boards are often slippery surfaces where people can unexpectedly slide off and hit the water, concrete, or deck below, leading to severe injury. You should exercise caution while on a diving board and dive properly. Owners also have a responsibility to inspect ladders and ensure no damage or flaw is affecting the safety of their diving board.
Shallow Pools
When a person slips and falls in the shallow side of a pool, they risk serious injury from striking their head on the pool’s bottom.
Pool Decks
A common area where swimming pool slips occur is on the deck. These tend to happen when the owner does not try to keep it dry. Falls on the wet surface of a deck are usually unexpected, and since the victim typically hits a hard surface, they can sustain severe head, neck, spine, and back injuries.
Falling Off a Ladder
Injuries from falling off pool ladders sometimes occur after a traction pad wears off and the owner does not replace it with a new slip-resistant pad. Owners have a responsibility to keep their pool equipment in safe working condition.
Poor Setup and Maintenance
Poor pool setup and maintenance is a primary cause of slips and falls at the pool. If an owner does not set up the pool’s equipment and surrounding area correctly, this creates unsafe conditions. If an owner fails to perform maintenance or make repairs, this can lead to slippery equipment or other dangerous conditions.
Electrocution
While rarer than slip-and-fall accidents in pool areas, electrocution sometimes occurs. If owners do not perform appropriate pool maintenance, wires, lighting, and other components may get wet or damaged, leading to hazardous conditions.
What to Do After Falling at a Pool in Minnesota
After suffering any type of personal injury, it is important to remember to not admit to having any fault in an accident. This includes suggesting you were clumsy, distracted, or not wearing the right footwear. In many cases, there are other circumstances you may not be aware of that could have led to your fall. Admitting fault or apologizing could undermine your personal injury claim later.
You should be very careful in what you say. Take the following steps to take care of your well-being, preserve the evidence, and protect yourself.
Seek Medical Attention
If you are injured, you should seek treatment from a healthcare provider immediately. Even if you do not feel hurt, you should still get yourself examined by a doctor. You may have injuries that are not immediately apparent, some of which might be serious. Additionally, if someone spent an extended period of time submerged in water from the accident, they should be examined by a doctor.
No matter the degree of injury or even if it appears no injuries are present, it is important that a physician documents your condition and examines you for unnoticed injuries. This will be important later, especially if you have a slip-and-fall injury accompanied by a stack full of medical bills.
File a Report
It can be difficult to report people you know or organizations you frequent, but it is vital your pool accident is on record and that you file a police report. Generating a report helps to preserve details and document evidence of what happened. If the owner or other responsible party was negligent, having an accident on record not only helps your case but can save someone else in the future from suffering serious injury.
Document the Scene
As soon as you can, document the accident scene at the pool. This is important, regardless of whether the pool is public or private. Owners or managers have a responsibility to keep pool areas safe from slippery surfaces and other hazards. Take photos and videos of the swimming pool and surrounding areas. If there are any loose concrete areas, puddles of water, loose cords, objects scattered on the ground, or other hazards, document them. Be sure to obtain the contact information for eyewitnesses who saw how you were hurt and can attest to pool conditions.
If you have to receive emergency medical attention, you can ask someone with you to handle this step.
Contact a Minnesota Premises Liability Attorney
To protect yourself, contact a personal injury attorney well-versed in Minnesota’s premises law. Never admit fault to the owner, pool manager, insurance company, or anyone else. Try to avoid talking to anyone about the accident until you consult with an experienced Minnesota premises lawyer.
Your attorney can investigate the accident and gather evidence. Your law firm can also serve as a go-between with the insurance company and negotiate on your behalf. Unfortunately, insurance companies notoriously try to undercut paying compensation for injuries and will try to get away with paying little to nothing.
What Are Some of the Most Common Injuries After Slips, Trips, and Falls?
The following is a list of common types of injuries that can result from a slip-and-fall at a swimming pool.
- Neck injuries
- Spine injuries
- Cuts and bruises
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Like other types of accidents, some injuries may surface immediately, while in other cases, a victim may suffer from hidden injuries that may not immediately be apparent.
Who is Liable For My Swimming Pool Accident in Minnesota?
If you fell at a pool in Minnesota, never assume you did something to cause your injury. Liability for your swimming pool injury may be the fault of another party. Their actions or inactions may be the direct cause of your injury. Your attorney can investigate the circumstances surrounding your fall and identify any parties at fault. Correctly identifying the causes of slip-and-falls and the liable person(s) for your injury is essential for your premises liability claim, especially if the reason for the fall was preventable.
Swimming Pool Owner
Pool owners have a responsibility to build, maintain, and manage their pools safely. Unfortunately, sometimes, owners are negligent and fail to perform necessary tasks to keep their pool areas safe. If so, they can be held liable for not exercising their duty of care.
A Lifeguard
Lifeguards help keep swimmers and others in the pool area safe. If someone is running, they will typically blow their whistle and order them to stop. Lifeguards are also tasked with keeping a close eye on the pool areas and water. If the lifeguard is distracted, fails to rescue someone, or neglects to ensure safe conditions at the pool, they can be held liable for injuries or wrongful death.
A Caretaker
Caretakers are individuals hired by pool owners to manage and maintain pools on the property. If the caretaker neglects to repair broken pool equipment, perform maintenance, or otherwise keep a pool area safe, they may be found negligent and at fault for an accident. This includes ensuring lifeguards are also not working in unsafe conditions.
How Do I Prove My Slip-and-Fall Case in Minnesota?
To prove a premises liability case, you must prove there was a duty of care, a breach of this duty, and you suffered damage (injury) due to this breach. Accidents at swimming pools are not unlike slip-and-fall accidents at stores, homes, and offices. The owner or other responsible party has a duty to ensure conditions are reasonably safe to prevent injury. A Minnesota accident lawyer can help you determine the responsible party and prove their negligence caused your injury.
Preventing Slip-and-Fall Accidents at a Pool
The swimming pool owner is responsible for most accident prevention strategies, such as upkeeping pool conditions by performing maintenance, installing guardrails, keeping walkways and other pool areas dry, and creating good working conditions for their employees, including lifeguards. However, you can also be proactive in keeping yourself, children, or other loved ones safe as well.
- Make your party aware of all the rules of the pool.
- Warn your party that the swimming pool may be slippery.
- Set expectations for your party.
If you see your children excitedly running to get to the pool, slow them down and explain why they must walk. Also, be sure any children who are not strong swimmers wear life jackets or other age-appropriate floatation devices.
Why Clients Choose Kirshbaum Injury Law
At Kirshbaum Injury Law, we take pride in what we do to protect people who suffer personal injuries. Our Minnesota personal injury lawyers will work hard on you and your loved one’s behalf during the course of your personal injury case. Here are some of the many testimonials from clients who utilized Kirshbaum Injury Law for car accidents and other legal personal injury services.
“When my wife and I were in an auto accident last year, we were extremely nervous about dealing with the confusing world of both auto and medical insurance surrounding an accident. The first good piece of advice that we took was to get a lawyer at all. And we’re extremely glad we chose Jim. He and his staff have navigated two paths extremely well. One is the effort to get us adequate compensation for our injuries. Some of those injuries are easily quantifiable by the hospital bills. But others are proving just as life-changing but less easy to quantify, and Jim has been able to tell that story such that we’ve received the start of a fair settlement. He’s now working on other avenues of compensation, which we wouldn’t have known to explore. The other path he and his staff have navigated is helping my wife and I understand all of this. None of it is intuitive to us, and Jim has not once lost patience with us no matter how often we ask the same questions. I’m extremely pleased with the experience we’ve had with Jim.” -lkalliance
“Jim was amazing from start to finish. He negotiated a settlement for my family and when the minor turned 18, he helped us get our funds released from court without any issues.” -Fatima A.
Injured at a Swimming Pool? Contact Kirshbaum Injury Law
Dangerous conditions that lead to swimming pool injuries are often preventable. Sadly, you may still end up suffering long-term or permanent injury or disability, forever changing life as you know it.
Many accident victims end up struggling with high medical bills due to their injuries, along with pain and suffering. It is disheartening to discover that your serious injuries could have been avoided if a property owner, caretaker, or lifeguard had taken action and kept a pool area or slippery surface safe.
If you or a family member suffer from pool-related injuries, you should file a personal injury claim. Our compassionate slip-and-fall lawyers at Kirshbaum Injury Law are experienced in Minnesota personal injury and premises liability claims. We will stand with you every step of the way.
To learn more about how our law firm can support you, call 952-545-2700 or complete the online contact form to schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced premise liability attorney at Kirshbaum Injury Law today.
Written By James J. Kirshbaum
Jim is a very experienced trial lawyer having conducted jury trials in multiple states both on behalf of injured people and on behalf of defending insurance companies.
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