Having an incident that winds up with your having a personal injury can be devastating. Your whole life can change in the blink of an eye. What are the steps that you should take if something like this happens? Here are some:
Get Legal Representation
One of the main things that you should do is contact a lawyer. If you live in Houston, you would want to contact someone like Houston-based personal injury attorney Stewart J. Guss. But before you even consider doing that, you need to do these things first, and then think about the law.
Get to Safety
Don’t freeze up if you’re injured. That may seem like a natural inclination. Instead, you need to move to a place where you can be safe. For example, if you’re in a car accident, you need to get off the road if you can to avoid any further injury. Take pictures of your vehicle before you move it so that you can show any change that came about from moving it.
Examine Yourself
See if you’ve suffered a bad injury. See if there’s any blood or if you feel numbness in any part of your body. Can you breathe normally? Can you see normally? Those are all things that you can notify any emergency personnel when they get to the scene … which is your next step.
Contact Emergency Help
Don’t assume that just because you might be in a crowded area that others will immediately call an ambulance. It’s best to be proactive. That way, you can alert any first responders about what they can expect to see when they arrive on the scene.
See A Doctor
While there may be times that you feel fine initially after an accident, you might have internal bleeding or something may develop a day or so later, like whiplash. You need to see a doctor as soon as possible. That can also start any paper trail that includes things like X-rays.
Be sure to follow all the instructions that the doctor gives you. They, along with any specialists that you saw for a particular aspect of your injury. That will help you with your claim.
As mentioned before, contact an attorney. Explain everything that happened to you. They should look over all the documentation that you have and come up with the best legal strategy. Make sure that they are attentive and are always ready to answer any questions that you may have. They should also alert you to any deadlines that you need to meet to ensure that the claim goes forward.
Doing all of these things won’t change the fact that you or a loved one had a personal injury. It can help you get payment for any care that you need or any back pay. But you or a family member need to act quickly. Waiting too long could result in your not getting anything. Here is a situation where being proactive is beneficial for you.
There is nothing wrong with going through this legal process. That’s what it’s there for. Just remember to be organized, keep all documentation, and stay in touch with both your medical providers and your legal representation. Then chances are good that you will get the compensation you deserve.