Toms River, New Jersey, Personal Injury Blog

Believing that swift diagnosis of sepsis leads to the prevention and reduction of sepsis-related fatalities, the Survive Sepsis Campaign now requires diagnosis and antibiotic treatment within one hour of suspicion of sepsis infection. However, some researchers find no benefit from early administration of antibiotics. Only patients suffering from septic shock benefit from early intervention. Patients who are not definitely septic do not benefit from stringent antibiotic therapy. Timing seems to be critical in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis.

The one-hour standard for the start of the treatment regime pressures emergency room health care providers to begin treating patients presenting symptoms of infection for sepsis before they have time for adequate diagnosis. Blood has to be cultured to determine which antibiotics will be effective. Extra time devoted to treatment of possible sepsis denies emergency room patients a timely diagnosis and delays others' treatment.

The audio commands and touchscreens used to control in-vehicle technologies are too distracting for many older drivers in New Jersey and around the country, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah. As a result, the authors of the study are calling on car manufacturers to develop designs that are user-friendly for all ages.

For the study, which was released on July 25, researchers asked 128 drivers to interact with in-vehicle systems on six late-model vehicles manufactured by Audi, Cadillac, Lincoln, Mazda, Nissan, and Volvo. The drivers performed a variety of tasks, including texting, plotting navigation, making phone calls, and changing radio stations. The study found that drivers between the ages of 55 and 75 took up to 8.6 seconds longer to complete the tasks than drivers between the ages of 21 and 36. Older drivers also took their eyes off the road an average of eight seconds longer than younger drivers. For reference, AAA reports that drivers double their chances of getting in a wreck by taking their eyes off the road for just two seconds.

According to a recent study from the Journal of Patient Safety, about 30% of malpractice claims related to electronic health records (EHR) involve medication errors. The research clearly showed that there were adverse effects to using electronic record-keeping at all types of health care practices in New Jersey and other states. However, most cases of malpractice occurred in an ambulatory setting, and the majority of these errors were due to user mistakes, not systematic issues.

According to researchers, a wide range of user errors contributed to the medical malpractice incidents. Many clinicians lacked the proper training to use the EHR system properly, so they made mistakes when inputting or retrieving data. In other cases, providers ignored crucial alerts provided by the system. Some clinicians also failed to notice test results.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious offense in New Jersey, as anywhere else, and can lead to fatal car accidents. Based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it appears that DUI-related fatality rates are their highest on the Fourth of July than during any other major U.S. holiday. From 2010 to 2017, a total of 1,192 people died in DUI crashes on the Fourth of July.

The second deadliest holiday is Memorial Day with 1,105 people dying on this day between 2010 and 2017. This was followed by Labor Day, New Year's, Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, the Fourth of July is not just deadly when compared to other holidays; it's also deadly when compared to the rest of the summer season. In 2017, 184 people died during the Fourth of July weekend. In an equivalent four- or five-day span of summer days, the average came out as 117 deaths.