Car Accident Injuries?  Seek Medical and Legal Help ASAP!

If you are injured in a car accident during this coronavirus stay-at-home era, you may wonder what to do for medical care in case of an accident.  The short answer is:  seek medical care immediately!

Two reasons dictate seeking medical attention promptly.  First, you may have injuries that are more severe than they immediately appear.  These injuries could – if left untreated – cause you permanent physical harm.  Seeking immediate care ensures that you receive the right treatment for all your injuries including those that may not surface immediately.

Second, you must preserve your legal rights by getting treated for your car accident injuries.

Injuries Typical to Traffic Accidents

In severe traffic accidents, victims often sustain a range of harm.  This includes head injuries, broken bones, internal bleeding, knee trauma, herniated disks, cuts, bruises, as well as psychological harm such as severe emotional distress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“Soft tissue” injuries – meaning harm to muscles, tendons, and ligaments – are also common.  Often the nature and severity of this type of harm is not evident until sometime after the accident.  For instance, people suffering from muscle strain – a common side effect of a car accident – may not experience symptoms until later.  Yet, this can be one of the most persistent and pernicious injuries a personal injury victim can sustain, with aftereffects occurring for months or years later.

Some common soft tissue ailments that may appear after an accident include:

• Headache
• Neck or shoulder pain
• Back pain
• Numbness

Documenting Your Injuries

If you have serious injuries and decide to pursue your legal rights, we must document your harm as close in time as possible to the accident's occurrence.  The more evidence we have of your medical injuries, the better we can advocate for a full recovery of your claim.

If first responders come to the accident scene, they will make the decision about transporting you to the nearest hospital for emergency care.  The hospital will have its own protocol for checking you for COVID-19, assessing your immediate injuries, and providing the necessary care whether on an outpatient basis or if you are formally admitted to the hospital.

COVID-19 Precautions You Can Expect at Medical Facilities

Local health care giant Main Line Health (“MLH”) checks visitors' temperature and performs other COVID screenings before allowing access to their facilities.  Staff and visitors must always wear masks.  Social distancing as per signage and floor markings within the MLH facilities is also required.  Visitors are not permitted in inpatient areas other than in the maternity area.  In the obstetrics area, patients are limited to just one support person, including their doula or midwife.  MLH has also postponed elective procedures to reduce the possible spread of the virus.  How Main Line Health is responding to COVID-19.

Even smaller health care offices have COVID-19 precautionary protocols.  One local physical therapy practice uses telemedicine where possible.  If in-patient visits are necessary, the office takes the temperature of each patient before they enter for treatment.  Both the patient and staff members use facial masks, and every morning and evening all equipment is sanitized.  It is also cleaned throughout the day.

Preserving Your Legal Rights

If you do not require emergency room admission, what should you do to ensure your recovery and preserve your legal rights?

Go home and contact your family doctor.  These days, many medical practices are engaging in telemedicine to eliminate the risk of exposing people to the virus.   Your doctor will let you know whether to come into the office for further assessment and care.  She may also refer you to other medical specialists or to a medical lab for blood work, an MRI, CT scan, or other diagnostic testing.

Be sure to call these ancillary service providers before going to their office, so they can tell you their protocol for getting the help you need while maintaining COVID-19 precautions.

Call Us – 215-576-5150 – We Can Help!

Taking care of your medical needs first will best equip us to advocate for your legal recovery.  So, call us today.  We will walk you through the process to make sure we can help make you whole again.

For more information

Do YOU have a personal injury claim?  Click here for more about this type of lawsuit and how we can help:  Worthington Law Group Information about personal injury claims.