Why You Should Seek Medical Treatment Immediately After an Accident

The first thing to do after you’ve been injured in a car accident might actually be the last thing on your mind. But it can be a lifesaver in more ways than you may imagine. It’s seeking a comprehensive medical evaluation. Getting thoroughly checked out by a trained healthcare professional is a vital step you simply must take to protect yourself and the people you care about following any injury – whether it’s the result of a car crash, a boat collision, an bicycle incident; a slip-and-fall accident, or any other type of circumstance that causes you or someone you love to be hurt… even if it’s something as seemingly minor as a dog bite from your next door neighbor’s “harmless” chihuahua.

So immediately after calling 911 and alerting local authorities that there’s been an incident resulting in someone being injured, we recommend that you also arrange for a dependable doctor to provide a careful, conscientious evaluation of your medical condition – both for your own personal safety in the near term, and for your legal protection down the road. Here are a number of reasons why we urge our valued clients to take this important step:

Many Injuries Require Immediate First Aid

In the initial aftermath of an injury-related accident, some people go into shock, a medical condition that has serious repercussions, and can even lead to death if left untreated. Other accident victims eventually experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that leaves them emotionally vulnerable due to the trauma they’ve just experienced. But before those types of impacts can be addressed, “Class 1” triage injuries such as broken bones, lacerations, burns, excessive bleeding, internal injuries, and brain damage all require instant attention from trained emergency medical personnel.

EMTs will see to your immediate first aid needs at the accident scene, and the trained trauma care staff at your local hospital’s emergency room will step into action once the ambulance drops you off. But after that you should also obtain a much more thorough medical workup once any life-threatening injuries have been addressed and your condition has stabilized. That kind of evaluation takes time, something that isn’t usually available when dealing with traumatic injuries, so it’s best done in the first few days following a serious accident. We can help you find a qualified doctor to undertake this process – just contact us to get the ball rolling. And we’ll also help you recover any evaluation costs your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance benefits don’t cover – because no one should have to suffer from long-term injuries just because they can’t afford to be evaluated by a trained physician.

By the way, one thing accident victims often fail to remember is that solid photographic evidence of your injuries – along with other forms of documentation – are also important to have later on. So, when you ask for our legal representation, we can help arrange for all those details to be assembled should they be beneficial to your case.

Other Injury Symptoms May Take Time to Manifest

The adrenaline rush which many accident victims experience immediately after an accident can briefly mask some symptoms of serious injuries, but that protective short-term reaction can be followed by devastating long-term circumstances such as peripheral nerve damage, which might become evident only after days, weeks, months, or perhaps even years have passed. Serious injuries of this nature can also lead to chronic pain that negatively impacts the quality of life for many accident victims – often for long periods of time, and sometimes permanently. Undergoing a comprehensive medical evaluation that includes X-rays, CAT-scans, and MRIs helps pinpoint subtle damage to vital organs; your spine, brain and nervous system; your muscles and tendons; and your underlying skeletal structure so they can be appropriately treated. Those kinds of test results can become critically important not only to your physical health, but also to your future financial situation, which we’ll explain in a moment.

Obtaining Good Medical Records Can Help Protect Your Legal Rights

As we’ve noted elsewhere, documents such as police reports offer crucial evidence that can help prove who is at fault when innocent people are hurt in car accidents or other situations where injuries take place. But medical evaluations and other treatment records are equally vital to safeguarding your right to sue when you’ve been hurt through no fault of your own. That’s because collecting evidence as early as possible is key to establishing that you have met the “injury threshold” which permits victims to file lawsuits against perpetrators under Michigan law. Specifically, under Michigan’s no-fault car insurance rules, accident victims are permitted to sue those responsible for their injuries if they experience “serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.” By having complete medical records documenting the extent of your injuries, the personal injury attorneys at Mike Morse Law Firm can help prove to a judge and jury just how severely you have been affected – which can help you receive fair compensation for your pain and suffering, repayment for medical expenses and lost wages, and additional funds to cover such costs as long-term nursing care, specialized treatment, reconstructive surgery, and more.

Let Us Help You Obtain the Medical Documentation You’ll Need

In any legal matter, having persuasive evidence is crucial to proving a case. And as time passes, it becomes more and more challenging to document the extent of a victim’s injuries because – quite simply – most people do recover after being hurt. Bruises fade, stitches are removed, broken bones mend, life goes on. The passage of time could definitely make it more difficult to show a jury just how much you’ve been hurt, especially if you don’t have strong medical records revealing the extent of your injuries, photographic evidence of your condition, and other documents showing how you were treated by healthcare professionals in the aftermath of the accident. If you don’t act quickly, you could also run up against the statute of limitations, which in Michigan is just three years for personal injury cases. So don’t wait. Let us help you gather all of this important evidence, and even assist you in arranging to be examined by trained medical professionals who will provide critical proof of the extent of your injuries, so you can concentrate on getting better. To get that highly important process underway, call 855-MIKE-WINS (855-645-3946) at your earliest opportunity or get in touch with us here.

Content checked by Mike Morse, personal injury attorney with Mike Morse Injury Law Firm. Mike Morse is the founder of Mike Morse Law Firm, the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. Since being founded in 1995, Mike Morse Law Firm has grown to 150 employees, served 25,000 clients, and collected more than $1 billion for victims of auto, truck and motorcycle accidents. The main office is in Southfield, MI but you can also find us in Detroit, Sterling Heights and many other locations.