Being involved in an accident is stressful and can leave you with many unanswered questions regarding what you should do to protect your legal rights. We have boiled down the best course of action into five key steps to take after experiencing a personal injury. Reach out to our firm for more information on how we can help you recover compensation for your injuries and losses.
After an injury, the most important step to take is to seek medical attention. This can be from the emergency room, a healthcare clinic, or a general physician. The option that is right for you will depend on the severity of your injuries. Even when you do not immediately show any signs or symptoms of harm, there is a possibility that the adrenaline from your accident is hiding the severity of your damages.
Additionally, some injuries do not present any immediate symptoms and require specialized imaging to diagnose, such as internal bleeding or traumatic brain injuries. Seeking medical attention quickly can help ensure that you stay in the best physical health possible while also creating “proof” of your injuries that will be helpful for your claim.
If you do not need to head straight to the hospital, talking to other persons involved in the accident is important. Ask for their names and their insurance information. Even if your event does not become a personal injury case, having this information available makes future processes much smoother.
Collecting on-scene information from eyewitnesses, including their names and contact information, is also a helpful step after experiencing a personal injury. These eyewitness accounts can help your case in the future, as you will not only have their testimonies, but also a way to reach out to them should you need to do so.
While healing from your injuries, keeping a journal documenting the healing process is smart. You should include things like your current and fluctuating pain level, your range of mobility, and how the injury impacts your daily tasks and mental health.
While this step may seem a little silly, keeping a journal of your healing process can act as documentation showing a realistic account of how your personal injury is going to impact your life in the short and long term. In some cases, you may not be able to heal from the injury completely. By having this documentation, it will be much easier to get compensation because your journal acts as proof of the extreme detriments to your life that the injury has caused.
In addition to your journal, you can collect other forms of documentation to further build your case. Medical records can help validate the information you have written about in your journal. Depending on the cause of the injury, you may have needed to call the police to the scene, and the police report can prove vital. Additionally, taking photos of your injury over time can show its severity and help track the healing process.
When you want to pursue compensation for your injury, contacting an attorney is the most efficient way to do so. An attorney will be able to guide you through the legal process as you handle your case, and providing all the information you have gathered, you will likely have a better outcome.
Additionally, if you retain legal representation early in the process, they can collect most of this documentation for you so that you can focus on healing.
At Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law, our attorneys are prepared to advocate tenaciously for your best interests. Regardless of the type of accident you were involved in, we can help. Contact us today for a free consultation to begin discussing your legal options and to learn more about what steps to take after experiencing a personal injury.
