If you have never been in a car crash, you might not know what to do if it should happen to you. Even minor collisions are everyday occurrences, though, so it helps to have a post-accident plan.
Once your nerves have settled down a bit, here are six steps to take in the aftermath of a vehicle accident.
Follow post-crash basics
Nothing is worse than watching a loved one suffer and wondering if there is anything you can do to help. If there is not an obvious solution you can provide, you might feel powerless and frustrated by your inability to alleviate his or her pain. This is what many people go through when their loved one is injured in a car accident, slip-and-fall or workplace incident. You do not have to helplessly watch, though.
There are many ways that you can help your loved one get help and recover from their injuries. Consider the following three tips for more information on assisting with treatment, recovery and every other part of the process. Your assistance could be the key to recovery for your loved one after an injury.
1. Encourage treatment
Many expectant mothers experience some level of anxiety over the labor and delivery process. However, because their doctors specialize in identifying potential problems and lowering the risk, most mothers and their babies will come through the birthing process with little or no long-term physical issues. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons notes doctors often may be able to identify and prevent the risks that cause an infant to suffer Erb’s palsy.
Palsy simply means weakness, and in this case, the weakness comes from nerve damage near the baby’s neck. The bundle of nerves there is the brachial plexus, which gives the body the ability to move and feel the shoulder, arm, hand and fingers. Consequently, when those nerves sustain injury, an infant may not be able to move or feel those parts of the body.
There are different levels of injury that affect whether the infant will recover quickly, require treatment or intervention, or suffer from a life-long injury:
As an Illinois driver, you likely face the hazards of our roads and highways on a daily basis. You also likely seldom think about the dangers you face, including the possibility of suffering catastrophic burns in a car wreck. Nevertheless, such accidents happen all too frequently. In 2016 alone, 3,275 Americans died in fiery crashes.
Unfortunately, your car contains many things that can catch fire and many surfaces that can become hot enough to cause you to sustain severe burns during a crash. In fact, you can suffer the following four different kinds of burns:
Burn degrees
Unfortunately, hit-and-run crashes will not go away any time soon. In fact, an average of 682,000 hit-and-run crashes has occurred every year since 2006, according to data from AAA NewsRoom.
If you become involved in a traffic collision and the other vehicle drives off, then you will naturally feel frustrated and afraid. You may have medical expenses you need to pay for. Here are the steps to take to protect yourself.
Collect evidence
In an ideal world, doctors would treat all their patients fairly and respectfully. No matter your gender, background, race or weight, your doctor would listen to your concerns and take them seriously.
Unfortunately, this world is not ideal, and doctors frequently shrug off concerns from many groups. For example, sexism against women can play a large role in misdiagnosis and delayed treatment, and so can being overweight, especially if you are female as well. Here is a look at some common reactions from doctors when they interact with patients who are overweight:
“You will get better if you lose the weight”
Last March, a fatality involving a pedestrian and an autonomous Uber vehicle had people across the country worried about the future of self-driving technology. Understandably, you and other Illinois residents might have been concerned for the safety of those on the roads. New information has surfaced that may put some of your fears to rest, if they do not entirely answer the question of how autonomous cars and vehicles with drivers may mix when the technology becomes more prevalent.
To recap the accident, a woman from Tempe, Arizona, was killed while walking her bicycle across the street, when an SUV with Uber autonomous technology struck her at about 40 miles per hour. Reportedly, there had been a safety driver inside the vehicle. The Uber company settled with the woman’s family for an undisclosed amount.
Autonomous technology may not have been at fault
Many surgeries are necessary and can improve someone’s quality of life or even save their life. However, it does happen that doctors sometimes recommend unnecessary surgeries.
For example, a doctor might say that you need surgery for a pacemaker when all you need is blood pressure medication. In fact, if you see more than one doctor to get second or third opinions, you could be dealing with a bewildering array of options. So, what is going on if one doctor recommends surgery, but another doctor says you can get better without surgery?
Financial incentives
If you suffer an injury on a property belonging to someone else, you may be able to file a premises liability lawsuit. According to Illinois law, property owners have a responsibility to ensure their environments are free of defective or unsafe conditions. If a property owner knows or should know about a dangerous condition and neglects to remedy it, you could become a victim.
In this case, you can sue the property owner for negligence and get compensation for your injury. Here are some common examples of accidents and injuries that often lead to premises liability case.
1. Slip, trip and fall
When you or a loved one visit the emergency room, you expect quality care. You would also expect that when it is time for your discharge, the medical staff would make sure you had a safe ride home or a place to go. Unfortunately, this is not always the case for those who visit hospitals in Illinois and elsewhere. A recent story has brought the seldom-heard-about issue of “patient dumping” to the public’s awareness.
In the story, reported by The Washington Post, a man took a video of a woman who was left outside a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, in freezing winter temperatures. The woman appeared confused and unable to function, and was wearing only socks and a hospital gown. After the man called authorities, the woman was readmitted to the hospital, then later sent to a homeless shelter, where her family came to pick her up. Reportedly, the young woman had a mental illness and had been missing for two weeks.
Numerous incidents of patient dumping across the country
Chicago Personal Injury Blog
