Injured At a Theme Park

Answer:

When we have a client that comes in, they’ve been injured somehow at one of the local theme parks, a question we get a lot is, “Should I have advised the theme park? Should I have told them about my injury? Should I have contacted an employee and let them know what happened?”

In Orlando, Florida, we have a lot of theme parks. We have a lot of people who visit these theme parks, many of them from out of state or out of the country. That is a question that they’re going to have when something like that happens. Whether it’s a small injury, whether it’s a large injury, whether it’s insignificant to you or significant to you, whatever it may be, we suggest that you do advise the theme parks. Let them know what happened. There needs to be a record of the incident. There needs to be some type of documentation. You need to be able to get the employees’ eyes on and let them see what happened. Let them know that a claim was made.

We’ve had experience in this area. Oftentimes, we’ll see a client come in and, unfortunately, they have not let the theme park know. That is one of the tactics that they’ll use to fight and deny your case. They’ll say, “We don’t have any record of this happening. How do we even know what happened at the theme park?” We would say that it is very critical to let the theme park know that you’ve been injured, that way they can prepare a report and, if they do prepare a report, make sure that you get a copy of the report.

Make sure that, if you do fill out the report, you read the report. Oftentimes, in those documents, there’s information in there that can be used against you. Sometimes, depending on that, we would advise against not signing the report. At least make some kind of report verbally, and make sure that someone comes on site to inspect the situation. A lot of these theme parks have their own medical staff. They can get you the medical treatment that you need right away. This is very important.

Several of the theme park cases that we’ve handled involve the originating report of the incident from the theme park’s medical staff. They essentially have EMT-trained individuals that work at these theme parks, and they will come out there, assess the situation and, if they’re able to help you, they’ll help you there. If they’re not able to help you, if the injury’s too significant, they will call for outside help. All of this is critical to making sure that your claim is handled properly and to make sure that you get the best outcome possible.

One thing that is very important is, when you do make the claim and you’re either filling out the form or speaking to some kind of personnel from the theme park or their medical staff, to let them know exactly what you’re feeling. Let them know exactly what happened. Let them know where you’re injured and how the injury is affecting you. Once you have this documentation, they’ll be able to help you in processing your claim as it goes forward.

Aside from that, we would not give any more detailed information to any of the theme park employees or to anyone representing the theme park employees until you have spoken with an attorney experienced in this field. If you have any other questions about falls at theme parks, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.