Throughout the United States, there have been many cases that involve people who have suffered injuries, and fatal wounds from falling down a flight of stairs, or tripping on them. These accidents have brought forth many standards and safety regulations that are now required for stairs. Almost all cruise ships fly with foreign flags, and the company resides in a foreign country. If you’ve suffered a staircase accident on a foreign cruise ship, you may experience certain complications. Why? Because the cruise line company will often argue that the safety regulations and standards in the business that make the staircases secure are not applicable with stairs in a cruise ship. Nonetheless, no matter where you are, the causes for the safety regulations and standards of stairs are applied to any set of stairs, especially one that is basically in an operational hotel, which is more cause for concern in making them safe because the ship being in motion is an added factor that can attribute to someone falling or tripping on a stair.
Falling from a stairway is the way in which the most falls take place. There are no specific statistics for cruise ship staircase accidents, but in general, here are some statistics of people falling from or getting hurt by stairs:
- There are more than 1,000,000 people who undergo falls every year
- There are 12,000 people who die from staircases falls each year
- 75% of people who die from falling down stairs are over the age of 65
- More women suffer from staircase falls than men, which could be contributed to the type of shoes they are wearing. For example, high heels.
- Cardiovascular conditions tend to be associated with falls
- Stairs contain frequent defects such as irregular dimensions, risers that are too high or that are too low, bad lighting on the staircase, narrow treads and even stairs in an unexpected place
- A minor fall occurs once in about 63,000 times you go up and down a stairway
This is just a fraction of the many statistics that take place with slip and falls on staircases. Just imagine with so many falls that occur, being on a moving ship contributes more of a risk in falling.
What Injuries Can You Sustain from the Fall?
Falling from a flight of stairs can have devastating results. You can either suffer a minor injury, a catastrophic injury, or lose your life. So many factors can play a role into what injuries you obtain from the fall. These are some harms that can be done to someone who faces this traumatic situation:
- You can break or shatter a bone
- You can dislocate a part of your body
- You can suffer spinal cord damage
- You can endure neck and back damages
- You can get internal bleeding and not even know
- You can sustain internal organ injuries
- You can acquire severe brain trauma
Due to these life-threatening injuries. Even if you feel fine after the fall (which can happen), still seek medical care because you never know if you may have an underlying condition. You might be bleeding internally and not even know you are. It is crucial to have an evaluation of your whole body. By doing this, you may save your life.
What Causes These Falls?
Many factors can play a role into why someone fell down or tripped on a set of stairs. It can range from a miscalculation of your step, to a bad maintenance of the stairs by the property, but in this case, the cruise ship company. Some of those attributed factors include, but are not limited to:
- Surfaces that are uneven, such as a wrong dimension
- A failure to warn sign if something was dropped such as, a drink
- Repairs that were improperly done
- The bunching of a carpet on the step
- Not enough lighting on the staircase or steps
- Handrails that are loose or stairs that don’t have any
- Miscalculation of your step (taking two steps at a time) or rushing up the stairs
- Shoes that are not stabled such as, high heels
Immediately seek aid if you tripped or fell down a set of stairs. Seeking medical help as soon as possible is an attributing factor in making a case towards your accident. Be cautious of what you say to the crew members of how it happened because they will try to avoid playing any part in your fall. Even their doctors on site know which questions to ask you so that it makes it seem like it was your fault. They may ask: “What could you have done to refrain from falling? instead of asking “What could the cruise line have done to prevent you from falling?”. Cruise lines are very sneaky and are trained to avoid any responsibility for an accident you receive while on board their ship.
Make sure you document how everything happened. What or who caused your fall? Who was around you when it happened? What hazardous objects may have been in the way? Were there any warning signs? Be very vigilant.
Stairway Accident Professionals
Slip and falls are one of the most common accidents that result in injuries and deaths in the US. If you fall under those statistics, and have been an injured party while boarding a cruise ship, you may be qualified to collect a financial gain for your damages, especially if it involved the negligence of the cruise line company, or crew members.
Our team has mastered slip and fall cases, and have succeeded in awarding what is due to the victim. With more than 20 decades of experience at hand, we offer answers and proven results. All you wanted was to be on your dream vacation, but it ended in a nightmare. Pick up your phone and do not delay in contacting our team at Percy Martinez Personal Injury Law firm.
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