If you have been injured in an accident your first response should be to seek medical treatment; however, besides seeking medical treatment you also will need to protect yourself by calling the personal injury lawyers at Shiner Law Group who maintain offices throughout south Florida including in West palm Beach, Boca Raton, Stuart, and Fort Pierce. Our trial attorneys are professional personal injury lawyers and can help protect your rights and help you recover damages.
Inured in an accident – Who should you see?
Immediately after an accident you should do the following:
- Check for injuries, to better determine if you or others are injured, call 911 immediately and ask for help, tell the dispatcher your location, description of the incident, how many injured and location.
If possible move to safety, if you were involved in a slip and fall, you should stay where you are if there is not any immediate danger, for example if you slipped and fell in the middle of a busy road, you should get to safety immediately, however if you slipped and fell on a sidewalk, moving could cause more severe injuries. If you were involved in a car accident and can get to safety do so, however if not, have others help block traffic to help better protect you from oncoming traffic until emergency personnel arrive on scene.
- Write down and record details of incident, take picture or video with your smartphone of the location, detail what happened, if you were in a car accident take pictures of the damage to your call and to the other vehicle, if you slipped and fell take pictures and video of the location, put a coin down to demonstrate the crack in the sidewalk or to show the object you tripped over.
- Exchange information of any other parties involved, avoid placing blame, phrases such as “It was my fault”, “I didn’t see you” or “it happened so quickly I couldn’t react”, basically do not admit fault or blame the other person. Be frank, describe what occurred to law enforcement, provide your insurance information and obtain the other party insurance information. Obtain as much information as possible such as the other parties name, address, phone number, insurance information, license and registration, any witness contact information and details of their recollection, the police accident report number, the officers name, and badge and contact number.
- Call the personal injury lawyers at Shiner Law Group immediately. We can provide you with additional medical treatment options and will provide you with the best legal team to handle your claims.
- Seeking medical treatment can be difficult after an accident, it can get frustrating seeing one doctor after another to treat you for your injuries and explaining the incident and what hurts each time, however the type of medical treatment you seek will depend on the extent of your injuries. Obviously Catastrophic injuries will need to be treated differently than other injuries sustained in an accident. Talking to your Primary Care physician or a specialist will help determine your next steps for treatment.
Common Injuries after an accident
- concussion – which is a temporary “unconsciousness” and injury to the brain generally caused by a head injury.
- Herniated Disk – is a condition when the spinal disc (the space between vertebrae) ruptures and a portion of the spinal disc is pushed through the outside barrier.
- Joint Damage – damage to the joint is generally manifested as pain, swelling, inflammation, and could also be the loss of mobility of the joint.
- Fractures – is another term used by healthcare professionals for a “break” such as a “broken” bone. Common symptoms of fractures include pain, swelling, deformed appearance, and bruising.
- Whiplash – is generally defined as a neck injury that is caused by a person’s head moving backward and forward very fast.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries – also referred to as “TBI.” Different types of brain injuries can include concussion, diffuse axonal injury, contusions, anoxic injury, and even hypoxic injury (which is lack of oxygen).
Medical Treatments after an accident
After an accident you can experience degrees of pain, each accident is unique, each injury is different and so is the form of treatment.
- Chiropractic Treatment after an accident – chiropractic specialist will manipulate your joints and focus their treatment on reducing pain and increasing your mobility.
- Orthopedic Treatment after an accident – in the event you have been evaluated and it is determined that there is specific damage, orthopedic treatment will focus on correcting bone, ligaments, joints, and muscle injuries.
- Spinal Injury Treatments after an accident – for herniated discs or other spin related injuries, you may be prescribed surgery to target these injuries.
- Rehabilitative Treatment after an accident – some types of treatments may require additional therapy to help in recovery, such as physical therapy and occupational therapy.
- Kyphoplasty Treatment after an accident – This treatment is used to repair fractured vertebrae, a balloon is inflated and expands inside near the fractured bone, cement is inserted inside the balloon which provides support and relief from the pain.
- Spinal Cord Stimulation Treatment after an accident – targeting nerve pain via the use of electricity, electronic nodes are placed either directly on or near the source of the pain and controlled amounts of electricity are then directed to the pain centers to help calm and relieve the pain.
- Stem Cell Therapy Treatment after an accident – Stem cells have the ability to divide and become other types of cells within the body. This helps to heal other parts of the body, by helping to replace bad or depleted cells. They do not repair the cells on their own; they are applied to the injury location through injections and grow and develop on their own to repair the damages.
- Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy Treatment after an accident – This treatment helps the body regenerate more quickly, by adding plasma directly to the injury site.
- Organ Disc Fusion Treatment after an accident – specifically used to treat damaged disc or those out of alignment. Damaged or misaligned disc weakens back support. The treatment fuses parts of the spin together to help strengthen your back.
- Trigger Point Therapy Treatment – commonly used along with specialized massage, with trigger point therapy, pressure is applied to the areas that are most affected by the injuries to help alleviate the pain and soreness.
When should you seek treatment from a Chiropractor after an accident?
After an auto accident you may have sustained serious injuries and maybe seek relief for pain in your lower back, neck, shoulders. After an accident you may feel dizzy, headaches, the inability to stand, impaired vision, numbness, soreness in your neck or shoulders, back pain or joint pain, and you may need to seek chiropractic treatment for these injuries.
If, however your injuries are more severe, there is blood loss, bone protrusions, swelling, cuts, abrasions then you should seek medical treatment immediately.
When should you see a Spine and Neck Specialist after an accident?
After an accident you may have spin and neck pain and may have to see a Pain Specialist that specializes in back and neck pain to treat your injuries. Neck injuries can limit your range of motion. A neck specialist will help treat your injuries that are affecting you from the bottom of your head to the top of your shoulders or the first seven vertebrae of your spine. A Spine Specialist deals with the entire length of the spine which helps with upper and lower back pain.
These specialists will deal injuries caused by an accident such as Whiplash, Vertebra fractures and herniated discs. Whiplash effects or strains the muscles, due to torn ligaments or tissue damage, yet no broken bones. Symptoms of whiplash are neck pain, stiffness in the neck, limited motion or rotation of the neck issues, and headaches. In accidents vertebrae may fracture causing bone fragments to scatter internally. These fractures may be small however and can cause a great deal of pain and lots of problems if not treated properly and quickly. Fractured vertebrae may cause a decrease in blood flow and may affect movement as well as quality of life. A herniated disc is when one or more of the vertebrae than makes up the spine are out of place which creates many problems such as extreme pain due to the shift in the discs pinching the nerves.
Does the type of medical treatment matter after an accident?
In short, probably. Insurance companies and insurance adjusters believe not all medical treatments are equal when they evaluate the value of a personal injury claim. The first step to understanding your medical treatment is to be diagnosed by a medical professional, however most Primary Care Physicians will not accept patients injured in an accident. Additionally, besides the type of care or treatment you receive insurance adjusters take into account the type of medical treatment as well as the length of treatment. It would be logical to assume that the longer you are treated by a medical professional, the longer it is for the injury to heal and that the more there is a much higher degree of pain and suffering in that injury case versus a case in which treatment is much shorter.
Medical bills received from a physician, emergency room, hospital or medical clinic are evaluated by Insurance companies as more legitimate than other types of medical professionals such as Physical therapists, occupational therapists, acupuncturists and Chiropractors.
As an example, although physical therapy is a common treatment after sustaining an injury, insurance companies tend to treat medical treatment from a physical therapist differently than a physician and will use a lower multiplier when evaluating claims. Other treatments such as chiropractic and massage therapist treatments are given even less weight than physical therapy.
However, you should not worry about this, your first priority is to heal and recover, allow the lawyers at Shiner Law Group to handle negotiations with the insurance adjusters. We are experts and have years of experience dealing with personal injury cases such as yours. We understand the negotiation process, we will present your unique case and the details to them. We will present the case history, what occurs, who was at fault along with the proper documentation and other evidence such as pictures, police reports and other such information which may help your case move forward. We will work with the insurance adjuster as they investigate the claim and answer any questions which may come up. We will also help the adjuster understand the value of the claim and the impact of a trail.
The lawyers at Shiner Law Group will discuss the actual damages, lost wages, medical bills, property damage as well as other damages that may not be capable of obtaining an exact calculation such as pain and suffering. In most cases, after the insurance adjuster has come up with an offer which will typically be much lower than what they believe are actual damages, which is why you need a legal firm that is on your side and has the experience and the ability to handle unique legal cases.
What are the different types of Accidents your firm handles?
The Shiner Law Group is a boutique litigation firm that focuses on handling personal injury cases throughout Florida; our Firm is based on providing quality and personal service. We treat anyone who walks through our door with the respect they deserve and provide competent, ethical, diligent and top-notch service. Although not a complete list of all personal injury cases we have represented, the list below provides you with a better understanding of our services. Please call us today to discuss your specific legal matter with one of our experienced personal injury lawyers for a free evaluation and if we do not handle your specific legal matter we will gladly refer you to a local attorney that focuses on that particular practice area.
- Slip and Fall injury, also known as a trip and fall is a premises liability claim.
- Truck Accident injury, injuries sustained during a traffic collision.
- Motor vehicle injury, car injury or a, car accident injury, injuries sustained during a traffic collision.
- Motorcycle injury, injuries sustained during a traffic collision.
- Water related injury, unintentional drowning, accidental drowning, injuries caused by the suffocation or near suffocation when water fills the lungs, also known as respiratory impairment.
- Bicycle injury, injuries cases during a collision with another bicycle, vehicle or object.
- Product liability injury, injuries caused by defective products or products not properly labeled and used incorrectly.
- Negligence injury, injuries sustained due to recklessness, carelessness or negligence.
- Sexual assault injury, sexual harassment injury, or sexual abuse, injuries sustained without your consent.
- Wrongful death, a claim against another party that can be held liable for the death of another individual.
- Burn injury, damage to the skin or deep tissue which may have been caused by oil, hot liquids, fire or chemicals, usually injuries sustained from a fire or chemical burns.
- Medical malpractice or medical negligence, injuries sustained by negligence from a medical professional or health care provider.
- Nursing home injury, injuries sustained while in the care of a nursing home, senior adult living facility or other care facility caused by negligence by health care providers or health care professionals.
- Pedestrian injury, injuries sustained by an individual in a collision, usually a motor vehicle.
- Traumatic Brian injury, injuries to the brain, usually from a blow or damage to the head caused by a sports related accident or motor vehicle accident.
- Train Injury, injuries sustained while on a train or from a train collision such as a train derailment.
- Swimming pool injuries, are usually horrific in nature. These types of injuries usually are a result of someone’s negligence such as a failure to put up a barrier around a pool, failure to maintain a pool – especially at a condominium or amusement park, the ocean, lakes, or any other type of Florida waterways.
If you think you may have a potential case and need to speak with a local personal injury attorney contact our law firm today for a free consultation. You probably found our office through a search for a personal injury lawyer near me and, if so, you found the right law firm for you. The injury lawyers at Shiner law group will spend the time and fight for your rights so you get the money you deserve. Call the personal injury lawyers at Shiner Law Group today at 561-777-7700 or fill out our free online case evaluation.
