Experienced and Dedicated Personal Injury Law Firm Serving Injury Victims in Myrtle Beach and Charleston
If you are like many residents in South Carolina, you may not be aware of the actions you need to take following a serious injury accident such as a car wreck or mishap while out shopping. The shock that you are likely to experience after a violent and traumatic injury accident can cause you to neglect taking prompt and decisive action. This failure to take appropriate action can harm you in more ways than one. Not only can you suffer additional physical harm and injury, but your legal rights – including your ability to seek compensation for your injuries – can be negatively impacted.
Take Decisive Action With the Assistance of a Columbia Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
The first step following a serious injury accident (of any type) is simple: Protect your health and wellbeing. This requires you to pause for a moment and consider the extent of your injuries. Within a matter of minutes, you should be able to:
- Determine if you are bleeding and, if so, the severity and location of the bleeding;
- Determine if you are in a dangerous environment and, if so, remove yourself from the environment (i.e., if you are in an area that is on fire, or in which a dangerous chemical has spilled, try to get out of the room and to a safe location);
- Call for help. You or someone on scene should call 911 as soon as possible so you are able to receive emergency medical treatment. If someone is on scene, he or she can provide first aid (the 911 dispatcher may be able to provide instructions to the person if he or she is not knowledgeable in first aid practices);
Once you have taken steps to safeguard your health and safety, you should next:
- Begin collecting the names and contact information of witnesses or bystanders present who may have observed what happened. At this time, you only need to collect the names of the witnesses and the best method by which to contact them. You and/or your attorney can discuss what the witness saw with him or her at a later time.
- Take photographs of the accident scene and your injuries. Do not take photographs if doing so would endanger your health (i.e., do not go back into a room that is dangerous) or cause you further injury (i.e., trying to move after a neck or spine injury). If you can, however, take photographs of the accident scene, your injuries, and the cause of your injury, if known. Be sure you take these photographs with your own device or the device of someone whom you know you can find later (otherwise, your stellar pictures may be lost forever!).
- Submit to emergency medical treatment and allow yourself to be taken to the hospital. If you have suffered a serious injury – a severe bleeding event, a brain injury, or some other serious injury – time is not on your side. It is imperative you obtain prompt evaluation and treatment. When an emergency medical crew arrive on scene, allow them to evaluate and treat your injuries and then allow the crew to transport you to the nearest emergency room for further care.
- Follow all of your medical team’s directions. While you are in the hospital and after you have been discharged, be certain to follow all of your doctors’ and pharmacists’ instructions. Be certain to take medication as it is prescribed to you, use assistive devices that are recommended for you, and keep any follow-up appointments that your team may make.
One Final Step – Contact Your Clinton Personal Injury Law Firm as Soon as Possible
Depending on the type and severity of your injury, it may be days or even weeks (or longer) before you are released from the hospital or in good enough health to make a phone call. If you followed the above recommended steps, you should be on the road to recovery – both a physical recovery and a legal recovery. Just as you entrust your physical health and wellbeing to a trained professional, entrust your legal recovery to a knowledgeable and skilled South Carolina personal injury lawyer.
As soon as possible, call the Joye Law Firm, your South Carolina catastrophic injury attorneys, for help beginning the process of obtaining compensation. Our compassionate yet zealous attorneys have nearly 250 years of combined legal experience in helping individuals whose lives have been upended by a personal injury accident. Let us go to work on your behalf helping you obtain the monetary damages you need to put your life back together. Call our firm or contact our firm online and retain our knowledge and resources today.
Categories
Archive
