Garage door openers are a convenience that many people take for granted. With the simple press of a button, your garage door can open or close itself. While convenient, however, this can also be dangerous. The mechanization of anything must have safety features to keep the dangers at bay.

With garage door openers, there is generally a laser that runs along the bottom of the door way. This prevents anything from getting crushed when the door closes. If the path of the laser is ever broken, the garage door stops closing and goes back up.

Unfortunately, the safety features that are meant to keep us safe can sometimes malfunction. If the laser sensor ever malfunctions, the garage door is able to close whether there is something under it or not. This is how injuries occur.

When garage doors are converted to automatic, they are constantly in a locked position. This is done so that you do not have to lock and unlock your garage door every time you use it. On a manual door, the lock prevents people from opening the door when they should not. However, this lock would break on the automatic door. This is why automatic doors are always locked.

Unfortunately, because of the lock, people can be trapped under these automatic garage doors. If there is nobody around to help, a person can be trapped and crushed to death. Even when there is somebody to help, serious injury can still occur.

Speak with a Minneapolis Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or someone you know has been injured by a garage door, contact the Minneapolis personal injury lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen at 612-362-0000.

Food poisoning is a phenomenon that can catch just about anyone off-guard. People can develop food poisoning from a number of different causes, and it can result from ingestion of bad food at home or from a restaurant or stand. Symptoms typically arise shortly after one has eaten the contaminated food or water, and they can range from mild to extremely severe, depending on what impurity has been introduced to the body.

Symptoms

As mentioned, symptoms of food poisoning typically arise very soon after the bad food has been taken into the body. Typically an inflicted individual will begin to experience these signs within 48 hours of ingestion. While symptoms vary from case to case depending on what sort of contaminant has been introduced, there are certain pains that one generally experiences no matter which type of food poisoning he or she has developed.

These symptoms include the following:

• Stomach pains and cramps
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Fever
• Headache

For more severe cases, individuals may also experience bloody stools, muscle pains and aches, impacts on the nervous system (convulsions or confusion) or, in the worst scenario, death.

Causes

Food poisoning is caused by contaminants in food or water, such as toxins, chemicals, bacteria, or parasites. These unwanted additions to the food may arise from unsanitary preparation techniques, improper storage, cooling, or heating of food, or improper cleaning of produce.

Contact Us

If you have been a victim of food poisoning, the Minneapolis personal injury lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, P.L.L.C. can help you. Please contact their law office today at 612-362-0000 to set up an appointment.

Doctors hold one of the most respected and important roles in our society, as they are entrusted with caring for and healing our population. They are also expected to be able to successfully diagnose and treat any medical condition in a reasonable amount of time, or refer an individual to a specialist if the nature of the illness is above their head.

Unfortunately, many doctors are unwilling to pass off their patients and instead, continue to try and diagnose their patients to no avail. In these instances, doctors are guilty of “failure to diagnose,”

The Dangers of Failure to Diagnose

Studies show that 40% of all medical malpractice suits are because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose a patient. This statistic is understandably large when you consider the dangers of this situation.

Many illnesses and diseases are time-sensitive in nature, meaning that the longer they go untreated, the worse they get. One of the most glaring examples of this is cancer. If a doctor fails to diagnose a person with cancer, the cancer will continue to spread and worsen. By the time a doctor does identify the disease (if ever), the disease may have developed to a point that it is no longer treatable, or the treatment options available may be extreme and invasive.

The Role of Insurance Companies

Not only are doctors the recipients of failure to diagnose charges, but insurance companies can also be charged with “failure to diagnose.” In some instances, insurance companies have bureaucratic processes and policies that require policy holders to wait a dangerously long time before they can receive medical attention. These delays can mean the difference between life and death for some patients.

If you or someone you know has failed to be diagnosed by a doctor, it is important to secure legal representation as soon as possible.

Speak with a Minneapolis Malpractice Attorney

Contact the Minneapolis medical malpractice lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, P.L.L.C. today at 612-362-0000 to learn more about your legal options.

When you work in a factory every day, it is important that your employer take every precaution to make sure that your working environment is as safe as possible. Failure to do so often results in tragic accidents which injure, disable, or kill unsuspecting workers. When a factory fire happens, it is often because the operating company did not do its part to keep a safe working environment for its employees.

One of the most important steps to maintaining a safe factory environment is keeping electrical equipment and machinery clear of dust buildup. If you have dust just lying on electrical machines that are constantly working, the flammability of the dust, combined with the constant heat output of industrial machinery, increases the risk that a devastating fire will break out.

Another factor that should be considered is the amount of air that is circulating in the room. Although fires only burn in the presence of oxygen, a lack of oxygen in a factory could actually be a disaster waiting to happen. A low oxygen concentration serves only to temporarily mask fire hazards, impairing detection and prevention efforts and lulling workers into a false sense of security; when oxygen is suddenly introduced into the room (from something as simple as the opening of a door or window), a flash fire can occur in the re-oxygenated, flammable environment.

If a fire happened in the factory that you are working in, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit for any injuries you may have sustained as a result. The company that you work for is legally required to make sure that the environment that you are working in is stable and safe. If they don’t do this, you may be entitled to recover compensation from them in a court of law.

For more information, contact the Minneapolis workplace injury lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen at 612-362-0000.

Kitchens can be dangerous places. The stove is supposed to be a controlled fire source, but with the help of common combustible items in the kitchen, you could have a kitchen fire on your hands. There are steps that you can take to avoid kitchen fires, and steps to take if they occur.

You should know which items in your kitchen are combustible. This is the first step toward avoiding kitchen fires. Certain things should always be kept away from flames. Anything that is kept under pressure, such as cooking sprays, can easily lead to an explosion or fire. Unopened cans can also explode if they are exposed to too much heat. This is extremely dangerous as the can becomes shrapnel once it explodes.

Unfortunately, when there is a kitchen fire, it is very easy to spread. There are a great many things that are highly combustible in your kitchen. The greases and oils that most people use for cooking are highly flammable. They are also commonly kept near the stove. If there ever is a fire or explosion, this could spread the fire quite easily.

There are a lot of different things in your kitchen that can catch fire or explode. This can cause serious injury to you. Unfortunately, not all of these things are well marked as combustible.

A Minneapolis Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

If you or someone that you know has been injured by a kitchen explosion, contact the Minneapolis personal injury lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen at 612-362-0000.

Escalators are incredibly convenient methods of transportation, allowing people to move quickly and effortlessly from one place to another. While these machines are usually designed and manufactured to the highest safety standards, user error and manufacturing / design defects do still occur with alarming regularity, resulting in numerous injuries every year.

Studies show that between 1990 and 2002, there were a total of 26,000 escalator injuries in individuals 0-19 years old. This amounts to an average of 2,000 injuries per year. Most information that has been gathered on escalator injuries has been collected for individuals between the ages of 0 and 19, because escalator injuries affect mostly children and youth.

In order to keep your child safe when riding escalators, it is important to be familiar with common escalator injuries and how they can be prevented. Typical escalator injuries that affect children include:

• Lacerations to the feet: When children attempt to step onto an escalator without adult help or supervision, they frequently stand in the wrong place and are cut by the sharp teeth that make-up the edge of an escalator step.
• Stroller injuries: Sometimes, adults do not know how to properly handle a stroller on an escalator, especially if the stroller is larger than one escalator stair. In these instances, children can fall out of strollers and suffer cuts to their hands and face. As such, parents and guardians should always be careful when putting a stroller on an escalator.
• Hand lacerations: Inquisitive children will often want to reach down and touch different parts of an escalator, which can result in serious lacerations to the hands and arms. Children need to keep their hands and arms to themselves when riding an escalator to prevent injury.

Speak with a Minneapolis Child Injury Lawyer

If your child has been injured on an escalator and you suspect a mechanical or design defect, contact the Minneapolis child injury lawyers of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, P.L.L.C. today at 612-362-0000 to discuss your legal rights.

Elevators, while providing easy and convenient movement, can also be a source or serious injury to elevator maintenance workers and the general public. Approximately 30 people are killed each year in accidents involving elevators and escalators, with another 17,000 injuries. While Hollywood tends to exaggerate the dangers of riding in elevators, which seem to break every few minutes on screen, there are some real risks associated with elevators. Thankfully, many effective safety features are used today to prevent injuries from occurring.

The first, and most important, safety measure in most elevators is the cable itself. While action heroes are continuously struggling against snapping cables, this situation is highly unlikely. The ropes supporting elevator cars are made of several lengths of steel which are wound around one another. Just one of these ropes is strong enough to support not only the weight of the elevator car itself, but also the counterweight as well. But, in the unlikely case that one of these ropes should snap, there are an additional four to eight ropes that will support the elevator.

Should a catastrophic accident occur and cause all of an elevator’s cables to snap, it is still highly unlikely that the elevator car would fall to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Most elevator cars have an automatic braking system that will grab the rail if the elevator car starts moving too quickly.

Finally, the design of elevator doors helps to prevent any injuries involving empty elevator shafts. Anytime you see elevator doors opening, there are actually two sets of doors in motion—an interior and exterior set. The interior doors are attached to the elevator car itself, and will open at each floor of a building. The exterior set is located at each floor, and will only open if an elevator is present.

While these safety measures are often successful in preventing most elevator-related injuries, accidents still do occur. If you or someone you know has been injured in an elevator accident, contact a Minneapolis personal injury lawyer at Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, PLLC at 612-362-0000 today.

Elevators, while providing easy and convenient movement, can also be a source or serious injury to elevator maintenance workers and the general public. Approximately 30 people are killed each year in accidents involving elevators and escalators, with another 17,000 injuries. While Hollywood tends to exaggerate the dangers of riding in elevators, which seem to break every few minutes on screen, there are some real risks associated with elevators. Thankfully, many effective safety features are used today to prevent injuries from occurring.

The first, and most important, safety measure in most elevators is the cable itself. While action heroes are continuously struggling against snapping cables, this situation is highly unlikely. The ropes supporting elevator cars are made of several lengths of steel which are wound around one another. Just one of these ropes is strong enough to support not only the weight of the elevator car itself, but also the counterweight as well. But, in the unlikely case that one of these ropes should snap, there are an additional four to eight ropes that will support the elevator.

Should a catastrophic accident occur and cause all of an elevator’s cables to snap, it is still highly unlikely that the elevator car would fall to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Most elevator cars have an automatic braking system that will grab the rail if the elevator car starts moving too quickly.

Finally, the design of elevator doors helps to prevent any injuries involving empty elevator shafts. Anytime you see elevator doors opening, there are actually two sets of doors in motion—an interior and exterior set. The interior doors are attached to the elevator car itself, and will open at each floor of a building. The exterior set is located at each floor, and will only open if an elevator is present.

While these safety measures are often successful in preventing most elevator-related injuries, accidents still do occur. If you or someone you know has been injured in an elevator accident, contact a Minneapolis personal injury lawyer at Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, PLLC at 612-362-0000 today.

Electric shocks are a potential danger in any area where electric appliances or outlets are present. These surprising incidents can catch individuals by surprise and result in injuries sustained not only from the electrocution itself, but also from quick and erratic reactionary movements after the shock. Typically, these injuries occur on-the-job; however, many people also suffer accidental injuries from electricity at home.

Electric shocks can be either very minor, causing the individual to jump back from surprise but not sustain any lasting pain or effects, to extremely severe. In the worst cases, a person may die as a result of an electrocution. The severity of the incident is based on several different factors, including the following:

• The path that the electricity takes through the body
• The voltage or current level
• How long the body is exposed to the current
• The type of current

Should all of these aspects combine in a certain way, the result may be a fatality.

Common Injuries

Most commonly, victims of electric shock only feel a slight tingling, depending on the strength of the current. However, over 1,000 accidental deaths occur each year as a result of electric shock. As the shock increases in severity, the victim may sustain entrance and exit burns, inability to breathe, loss of consciousness, or even cardiac arrest. Clearly, electricity is a force that must be handled with the proper precautions in order to prevent such accidents and injuries from occurring.

Contact Us

If you have sustained an injury due to electric shock, or if you would like to know more about these accidents, please contact the Minneapolis personal injury attorneys of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, P.L.L.C. today at 612-362-0000 to set up an appointment.

Lead poisoning is very dangerous, and very easy to contract. It takes only a very small amount of lead in your bloodstream for the effects of lead poisoning to begin to show. These effects and symptoms can start out small and quickly become very dangerous.

Chronic lead poisoning can lead to:

• Reduced cognitive abilities
• Nausea and abdominal pain
• Irritability
• Insomnia
• A metallic taste in the mouth
• Chest pain
• Headaches
• Seizure
• Coma
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Poor appetite and weight loss
• Anemia
• Kidney and reproductive issues

All of the above medical issues can begin to happen very early on in lead poisoning. There are also effects of lead toxicity that can occur such as the “Burton’s line.” This is a blue colored line that runs along the gums, and is an indicator of lead in the blood. Through certain blood tests, doctors may also find effects that are generally associated with iron deficiency anemia.

Lead affects the central nervous system, and can lead to reduced nerve reception. In young children, it can also lead to extreme learning disabilities.

Lead is a very dangerous substance which should not be taken lightly. You should take preventive measures to keep yourself and your family safe from such unnecessary illness.

Speak with a Minneapolis Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of lead poisoning, contact the Minneapolis personal injury attorneys of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen at 612-362-0000.