Steps to Recover After a Spinal Injury in an Accident
An accident could change your life forever if it inflicts a spinal cord injury. Damage of any kind to the spinal cord can have lasting effects, from chronic pain to permanent paralysis. Knowing what steps to take to recover as much as possible – both physically and financially – as a spinal cord injury victim in California can help you protect your future.
Get Immediate Medical Care
A potential spinal cord injury from an accident in California is an urgent medical situation that requires emergency attention. If you get involved in an automobile accident, slip and fall accident, workplace accident, or another type of accident and experience potential symptoms of a spine injury, call 911 to request paramedics to the scene right away.
It is important to stabilize and immobilize your neck and back to prevent further injury. Moving or twisting your spine the wrong way could turn a mild or moderate spinal cord injury into a severe one. Paramedics will stabilize your spine to prevent additional harm.
After a Catastrophic Injury
Get Legal Help to Secure Compensation
Follow Your Doctor’s Treatment Plan
An individual’s prognosis after being diagnosed with a spinal cord injury will depend on the location and severity of the injury, as well as personal factors related to the individual patient. Treatment options may include surgery, therapies and rehabilitation. It is important to follow your doctor’s recommended treatment plan, both for achieving maximum medical improvement and to lay the groundwork for a related personal injury claim in Los Angeles.
Gather Evidence
Spinal injuries are some of the most expensive types of accident-related injuries, on average. You and your family may be facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses, ongoing care and lost wages. If someone else is responsible for causing your spinal cord injury, you have the right to seek financial compensation from this party for your losses.
Start collecting evidence to support your spinal cord injury claim early on. If you can, while still at the scene of the accident, take photographs of the hazard that injured you. Get a police or incident report, and write down eyewitness information. You can also contact a Los Angeles spinal cord injury attorney to help you gather additional evidence to build a claim, such as testimony from medical experts and life-care planners.
Document Your Injuries and Medical Journey
Building an injury claim for a spinal cord injury in California requires proof of the injury and your related losses. As you follow your personalized treatment or rehabilitation plan from a doctor or specialist, document everything you can.
Keep an injury journal with how you feel and how your spinal injury affects your day-to-day life. Keep track of any medical devices or home and vehicle modifications you must invest in to accommodate a disability. Address your mental and emotional recovery, as well, by seeking mental health counseling.
Contact a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
A personal injury settlement or judgment award for a spinal cord injury in California could help you and your family pay for related expenses and move forward with greater peace of mind. Explore your legal options by contacting an experienced spinal cord injury attorney in Los Angeles as soon as possible.
A lawyer can investigate your accident to determine the cause of the spinal cord injury, identify the liable party or parties, and collect evidence proving negligence. Then, your lawyer can file a claim or lawsuit on your behalf before the deadline.
Your attorney will know how to negotiate with insurers for maximum compensation for a life-changing spine injury. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, your attorney can represent you at trial in pursuit of justice instead.