Burn injuries cause some of the greatest and most devastating of injuries. But what do you do after a burn injury? What kinds of burns happen? What can cause the most significant types of burn injuries? How can a San Francisco burn injury lawyer help? What about negligence? Not only do people with burn injuries who have these questions require surgeries, cosmetic procedures, pain management, physical rehabilitation, and therapy, but they require immediate answers as well.
What to Do After a Burn Injury
Protecting your rights after a burn injury while getting the proper diagnosis and most effective treatment is of the utmost precedence. Immediately seek medical attention, despite how bad you believe you may have been injured. Inhaling smoke may have damaged your lungs, so injuries may not appear as obvious as others.
Gather information at the scene of the incident. Get the names and contact information of the people involved as well as any witnesses.
Take pictures and videos of the scene and your injuries with your smartphone. This evidence may be of the utmost importance in a personal injury case.
Call 911 in the event of a severe accident and ask for a police report copy when officers respond.
Do not apologize to anyone else as any admission you make could be used against you. Do not speak to an insurance company before you speak to an attorney. Speak to a San Francisco burn injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Types of Burn Injuries that Occur
While categorized burns can be relatively minor based on how deep the skin damage is, there are four types of burn injuries that can occur from a burn injury-related accident:
1st Degree Burns
As the least severe types of burns, 1st degree burns only affect the outer layer of the skin
(epidermis), resulting in redness and pain.
2nd Degree Burns
Affecting both the outer layer of the skin (epidermis) and the second layer of the skin (dermis), 2nd-degree burns may lead to swelling, as well as to splotchy, red, or white skin. Blisters, pain, and scarring may also occur.
3rd Degree Burns
These types of burns affect the skin by reaching and damaging the fat beneath the epidermis and dermis. The skin may appear leathery, with colored burned areas. 3rd-degree burns can destroy nerves and cause areas of the skin to become numb.
4th Degree Burns
This is the most severe type of burn there as it blackens the flesh and possibly destroys tendons, muscles, and bones.
Causes of Burn Injuries
So, what causes these horrific injuries? Following car accidents, burn injuries are the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. Every year in the United States, hospital emergency rooms medically treat an estimated 450,000 patients with burn injuries—69% are male patients, while only 31% are female.
The causes of burns such as these include:
- Thermal injuries (caused by flames or fire, etc., equaling 43% of burn injury cases)
- Scalding injuries (caused by hot fluids or steam, etc., equaling 34% of burn injury cases)
- Contact burns (caused by touching oven surfaces, etc., equaling 9% of burn injury cases)
- Electrical burns (caused by charged wiring or metals, etc., equaling 4% of burn injury cases)
- Chemical burns (caused by corrosive materials, etc., equaling 3% of burn injury cases)
- Others (caused by things like inhalation burns from breathing in smoke, etc., equaling 7% of burn injury cases)
Negligence
Based on a theory of negligence (or failure to use caution and care that a reasonable individual would in a similar situation), California personal injury cases have four negligence elements:
- Duty: the victim (plaintiff) required the at-fault person (defendant) to fulfill a duty to use reasonable caution and care
- Breach: the at-fault person violated, or breached, that duty in one or another
- Causation: the violation in question was the proximate cause of the victim’s burn injuries
- Damages: suffered losses of the plaintiff
By way of a personal injury lawsuit, you may recover compensation for both tangible and intangible losses, including previous, current, and future medical expenses, lost compensation, reduced earning ability, scarring and disfigurement, as well as any pain and suffering. You may also have the ability to seek punitive damages meant to punish the other person’s reckless or intentional actions.
How Our San Francisco Burn Injury Lawyers Help
If you have been the victim of a fire-related injury due to someone’s negligence, now is the time to act.
It can take weeks or even months to heal from a serious burn injury. During this difficult time of recovery, financial needs and responsibilities will still exist and require attention. A burn injury lawyer can help to seek damages from the responsible party by filing an insurance claim or instigating a civil personal injury lawsuit. The lawyer will ensure that you get the full amount of compensation you deserve for your injuries. The amount of your settlement determines the extent of your injuries. Family members can also receive compensation if your injuries have negatively impacted their life.
An experienced law firm can do all the necessary work to ensure a settlement that will cover all expenses for physical, financial, and emotional loss. They will assume the burden of gathering the facts, finding medical experts knowledgeable in your case, and file the paperwork within the allotted timeframe. An attorney can negotiate a settlement on your behalf and go to court if necessary. As most lawyers work on a contingency basis, you have nothing to lose as their fee is based on the amount of the settlement.
As an award-winning, personal injury law firm, TorkLaw is here to help! Whether you need advice, a consultation, or just have questions in general, TorkLaw can certainly help. No matter what your case is and no matter what the circumstances, we are here to address all your questions and concerns. Contact us for a free consultation today by calling 888.845.9696 or visit our website. You will be glad you did.