A burn is an injury to your body usually caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, friction, or radiation. When your skin or tissue suffers a burn, healthcare professionals classify the injury by degree, looking at the depth and seriousness of the injury:
- First-degree burns are superficial burns. Your skin may appear red, and you can experience pain, but there are no blisters. The most common example of this type of minor burn is a mild sunburn from which you recover in a few days.
- Second-degree burns affect your top (epidermis) and second (dermis) layers of skin. Your injury will blister and be painful and swollen. These injuries are called “partial thickness” burns.
- Third-degree burns devastate the epidermis and dermis and can get into the hypodermis, the third layer of skin. These deep burns are called full-thickness burns and may appear blackened or white.
- Fourth-degree burns can reach deeper tissue like muscle or bone and can be life-threatening.
Burns are insidious injuries. They may continue to penetrate the area and, for example, turn a second-degree burn into a third-degree burn. See your healthcare provider as soon as possible if you suffered a serious burn injury no matter the cause.
Our Boca Raton burn injury lawyer are here to help you in your burn injury case.
Potential Complications From a Burn Injury
The more serious your burn, the more medical complications may arise to exacerbate your condition. Your healthcare providers will be monitoring you and your burn injuries for a range of secondary challenges, such as:
- Risk of infections, which can happen when bacteria find their way through the blisters of second-degree burns or the open wounds of more serious burns. An infection may turn into sepsis if your body goes into overdrive to fight the infection. This can lead to organ failure and death.
- Hypovolemia, which is when your body fluid (blood, water) is depleted.
- Lung damage, leading to difficulty in breathing.
- Hypothermia, when your burn injury is severe and you’ve lost the warmth your intact skin layer provided, leading to lower body temperature.
- Scarring, which can affect your ability to move easily, and may require skin grafts.
- Psychological complications often appear in the days, weeks, months, and years after the initial injury. PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges can become lifelong concerns after a burn injury.
What Are Your Options When Another’s Negligence Leads to Burn Injuries?
If your burn injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may have the right to pursue a compensation settlement or verdict from the defendant. To do so, you must prove the following:
- The defendant (the negligent party) had a duty to act with a level of care so as not to cause harm
- The defendant breached that duty by acting in a negligent way
- The defendant’s act of negligence caused your burn injury
- You suffered losses due to your injury
Negligent Acts That Can Lead to Burn Injuries
Examples of situations where negligence can play a role in one’s burn injury might include:
- A speeding driver caused an accident that led to a vehicle fire
- A careless worker dropped hot liquid on someone
- A defective product caused a home fire
- A chemical spill caused burns
Whatever type of burn injury you suffered – thermal burns like scalds or fire-related burn, electrical burns, chemical burns, radiation burns – if your injury was caused by another’s carelessness, speak with a burn injury lawyer to review your options to take legal action.
Medical Expenses You May Face For Your Burn Injury
Burns bring tremendous costs. Total cost for treating burn injuries in the U.S. stretches into the billions. Your medical costs for a severe burn injury can be exorbitant, and they start the moment you’re hurt:
- Emergency medical treatment
- An ambulance ride to the hospital
- The hospital stay(s)
- Lab work and imaging
- Multiple surgeries
- Physical therapy
- Rehab
- Prescriptions
- Medical devices and equipment
- Short- and long-term care
- In-home care
- Transportation costs to and from appointments
Additional Losses You May Suffer
When you experience a severe injury, your losses are not only medical. You experience pain and suffering at the moment of injury. That pain may extend for years, or a lifetime. You may become disabled or disfigured from your burns, causing psychological trauma, and your relationships may change due to the physical and mental stresses caused by your injury.
You may find that you cannot work as you could prior to the injury. If the injury is severe, you may not be able to return to any type of work. That loss of income is directly related to your being injured.
What To Do After Experiencing Economic and Non-Economic Damages From a Burn Injury
Compensation in the form of a settlement or judgment cannot change what happened to you, but it can help alleviate some of the stress that unexpected expenses put on your life. Contact a personal injury lawyer who offers free case reviews and share your story with them. This will give you the opportunity to learn what your rights are and how you may best pursue a compensation claim.
If you decide you’d like help with seeking a settlement from the insurance company or filing a personal injury lawsuit, work with an attorney who only accepts payment if and when you receive compensation. There is no reason to add to your financial burden.
Our Personal Injury Team at Ged Lawyers Helps You Find Your Way Back From Devastating Burn Injuries
Call us or go online to get your free case review today. Our burn injury attorneys and staff know how hard you’re battling to recover. Our goal is to lift the legal fight off your shoulders so that you can focus on the most important thing—your health.
We are a law firm with a history of winning. Some of our case results include a $6,500,000 settlement in a gas explosion case and a $7,130,000 verdict in a trucking accident. We’ve served Floridians for nearly 30 years with a compassionate, professional approach. Come see us today.
