Catastrophic Injuries

About Birth, Burn, Brain, & Spinal Cord Injuries

If your loved one has recently been involved in an accident leading to a serious injury, you understand that this will be a devastating and difficult time in their life and your life. You will need to put all your effort into supporting your loved one and caring for them as they take each step of the recovery process. Another step in the recovery process that is necessary but often overlooked by many injury victims includes filing a claim to recover financial damages caused by the accident.

Learn more about catastrophic injuries by clicking the links below:

• Broken Bones
• Burn Injuries
• Brain Injuries
• Scarring & Disfigurement
• Spinal Cord Injuries

Financial damages, including medical expenses for all current and future physical and emotional injuries, property damage and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering can be recovered by filing a personal injury claim with help from a Miami personal injury attorney.

At the Law Office of Maria L. Rubio, our legal team can help you identify your rights during a time such as this and how you can hold the negligent party responsible for your loved one’s injuries accountable for their actions. Filing a personal injury claim can not only be beneficial for you and your family now, but it can also help cover all future medical expenses that your loved one may need.

Information About Broken Bones

Broken bones can be catastrophic due to their ability to incapacitate the victim, as well as their lengthy healing period. While broken bones do heal, complications are often involved. Minor fractures may have little impact on a person’s ability to work or live their life, but there is still a degree of pain and discomfort involved. Severe fractures are another story, however.

Serious and compound fractures require the bones to be set and the limb to be placed in a cast or splint. For weeks – and sometimes months – the victim must go about their life unable to use their arm, leg, hand, foot, or other joint while the bone is allowed to heal in the proper position. The injured person may also have to endure the excruciating pain of pins or screws being inserted to hold the bone in place while it heals, then (often painfully) removed.

Even after the cast, brace or splint is removed, it can take even longer for the achiness and weakness of the bone to disappear. Broken bones can also cause lasting damages such as arthritis or weak bones.

Catastrophic Burn Injuries

Burns can be categorized as catastrophic, since many cases may be severe enough that the impact of an injury is long term or permanent. Your first concern after an accident should be seeking medical attention, but once you have been cared for, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a Miami injury lawyer to find out the options that you have.

Causes & Types of Burns

A burn can be the result of a number of causes, leading to all types of considerable damage. There are different sources of heat and the following are some of the causes of a burn:

• Electrical – From voltage or a flash burn
• Chemical – Skin contact with a chemical
• Radiation – Exposure to ionizing radiation or ultraviolet light
• Fire – Skin comes in contact with a flame
• Scalding – Water that is hot enough to burn
• Friction – Through fast contact with a hard surface
• Cold Temperature – Exposure to wind, cold or wet settings

Burns can come about in many ways and an accident can take place just about anywhere. A burn can be suffered fast and you may be left with serious damage before you know it. Depending on the type of burn and the level of damage, medical treatment may be necessary.

Different Degrees of Burns

• First Degree Burn: This is the lesser type of burn, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t hurt. The damage occurs to the outer layer of skin, and it is known as a superficial burn. This will be characterized by a reddening of the skin and a painful sensation.

• Second Degree Burn: This type of burn can come in two stages. A Superficial partial thickness burn will affect the first and second layer of the skin, causing reddening, blistering and blanching when pressure is applied to the area. It can last up to three weeks and may lead to infection. A deep partial thickness burn goes down into the dermis lawyer, causing a yellowing or whitening of the skin, drying it out and leading to a feeling of pressure and discomfort. This can remain for an eight week period and may lead to scars or require a skin graft to correct the problem.

• Third Degree Burn: Third degree burns damage fully through the dermis and this causes a stiff and white, brown appearance to the skin. The texture will be leathery and due to nerve damage the area can be painless. The results of it may be amputation, scarring or contractures.

• Fourth Degree Burn: In this type of burn, the damage will move through to the fat, bone and muscle, leaving the skin appearing black or charred. It is painless since the nerves are damage and it will need excision. Depending on the extent it can require amputation, may lead to impairment or may result in a fatality.

Burn injuries are significant and they should be treated properly. While a first degree burn does not always need medical attention, other forms of burns should be addressed by a healthcare worker. These can lead to permanent damage so they should be treated fast to avoid the damage from worsening.

Scarring & Disfigurement

Serious burns, compound fractures, chemical burns, deep wounds, and any number of injuries can cause scarring and disfigurement. In addition to the physical limitations, pain, and loss of range of motion, the victim often suffers a loss of self-esteem. There are several types of disfiguring scars.

• Contracture Scars – These can be the most disfiguring, and they can also limit range of motion. They result from burn injuries, and often require corrective surgery.
• Keloid Scars – These can be painful and often require scar revision surgery. These are characterized by excessive growth of scar tissue.
• Hypertrophic Scars – These develop when the tissue is pulled by collagen fibers across the injured area. They can be extremely sensitive and uncomfortable.

Serious burns can leave disfiguring scars and nerve damage. Limbs can be severed or damaged so badly in automobile accidents that they require amputation. Severe lacerations can cause irreversible damage to the skin, muscles, and nerves, and leave permanent scarring.

Catastrophic Spinal Injuries

Spinal injuries are some of the most serious types of injuries that can occur in a wide range of different situations such as slips and falls, car accidents, medical malpractice and other accidents that occur as a result of another’s negligence. It may be difficult for a healthcare professional to properly diagnose and treat a spinal injury due to the complexity of the injury itself, and the damage caused is often long-term with victims suffering the effects for years to come, if not the rest of their lives.

When a spinal injury occurs as the result of an act of negligence from another person, the victim may be entitled to receive financial compensation to cover any costs associated with the injury. Such costs include bills for:

• Doctor visits
• Surgery
• Prescriptions
• Physical therapy or other rehabilitation
• Long-term healthcare in especially severe cases
• Pain and suffering
• Current and future loss of income

Those who suffer spinal injuries may find it difficult or impossible to continue the lifestyle they were accustomed to before their accident, and they may no longer be able to make the living they were previously capable of making. Because of this, spinal injury lawsuits can also reward compensation to cover current and future lost wages.

How can an injury attorney in Miami-Dade help?

When your loved one needs your help to recover monetary damages in the car accident, motorcycle accident, trucking accident, premises liability accident or any other type of accident they were involved in, you will need to turn to a personal injury lawyer. Without the resources of a legal professional with decades of experience and true trial ability, your efforts of securing a settlement may go unnoticed. To learn more about filing a personal injury claim after your loved one has sustained any type of catastrophic injury, call our office today to schedule your initial consultation.