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Severe Injuries

General Brain Injury Neck Injury Severe Burn Injury

General

What is a catastrophic injury?
A catastrophic injury is a major injury that seriously impairs the victim's health for an extended period of time, or causes irreversible, long-term damage. Catastrophic injuries may include severe brain injuries, severe burn injuries, neck injuries, spinal injuries, amputations, vision impairment, back injuries, fractures, paralysis or internal organ injuries. Catastrophic injuries are physically, emotionally and financially taxing and are extremely expensive to treat. Catastrophic injury victims may require years of ongoing treatment, therapy and life assistance. Severe injuries can be sustained in a car crash, workplace accident, construction accident, or virtually any type of accident.

If a family member was severely injured due to another's negligence, how much compensation can he/she receive?
Many factors weigh into the personal injury claim brought by your family, and it may be difficult to put a dollar amount on the mental and financial suffering involved. Depending on the severity of the injury, your loved one may be entitled to receive compensation for medical bills, past and future income, loss of family benefits, pain and suffering, loss of the enjoyment of life, loss of spousal relations, and others.

Brain Injury

What causes headaches after a brain injury?
Headaches are a common side effect of a brain injury, stemming from blood vessel manipulation following the head trauma, jaw joint tension, accompanying neck or shoulder strain, soreness from the impact site, muscle tension, etc. To relieve a headache, discuss the characteristics of the pain with your physician. Stress relief techniques, massage, tension relieving exercises, pain relief medications, diet changes, among others, may help patients minimize or eliminate headaches.

What causes a person to become comatose?
A serious brain injury often leads a victim to enter a comatose state, meaning the brain and body are alive, but the person is unable to interact with his or her environment. While the victim is unconscious, there is evidence that some comatose patients retain awareness of surrounding sound and light. A coma may worsen to a persistent vegetative state, where higher brain functions are no longer evident.

Are victims of brain injury more susceptible to future brain trauma?
Yes - once a person has sustained any form of brain injury, he or she is at a higher risk for additional brain injuries.

Are brain injuries more common for motorcyclists than auto drivers?
Yes - the Centers for Disease Control reports that motorcyclists are three times more likely to suffer injuries, and fourteen times more likely to suffer fatal injuries in a crash than auto drivers.

How do you know if you have a concussion?
A concussion is a slight brain injury that occurs when the brain tissue impacts the skull bone. Car accident victims found to have concussions usually show signs of confusion and may even pass out for a short time. It is best to see a physician after any type of impact.

Neck Injury

What is SCI?
SCI refers to a spinal cord injury and is used as a blanket term to describe a broad range of damage to the spinal column. SCI results in a catastrophic loss of mobility or feeling in certain areas of the body. SCI can result from trauma incurred through car accidents, construction injuries, and trip and fall accidents, among others.

What are the effects of SCI?
Depending on the severity of the injury, SCI patients can experience a broad range of difficulties. With a complete spinal injury, patients will lose the ability to function below the injury site and will lose all sensation. With incomplete spinal injuries, patients will lose some functioning ability, but will be able to feel or use certain areas below the injury site. Some SCI patients may be left quadriplegic, meaning they lose function in all four limbs, or paraplegic, meaning they lose function in two limbs. Loss of motor function, lack of trunk control, loss of sensation, dysfunction of the bowel and bladder, sexual dysfunction, and loss of involuntary functions (such as breathing) may result from spinal injuries.

Can patients with spinal injuries make a full recovery?
SCI is generally regarded as an incurable condition. Although it can be impossible to tell how much a patient may recover directly following a spinal injury, it is possible to see significant recovery over time. If much of the paralysis or loss of function can be attributed to a swelling of the spinal cord, certain functions can be regained when the swelling subsides. Although there have been cases of full recovery, it is highly unlikely.

Do spinal cord patients die sooner than expected?
Yes. Spinal cord injuries put other systems of the body in jeopardy, and many SCI patients will lose their lives as a result of system failures. However, with the application of modern medicine and specialized SCI treatment, patients can live for many years despite their limitations.

Severe Burn Injury

What types of burn injury cases do you handle?
The attorneys at Ledger Law handle cases of severe burn injuries resulting from defective products, auto accidents, work-related injuries and construction accidents. Burn injuries may occur as a result of electrocution, building fires, thermal burns, chemical burns, gas explosions, flammable clothing, flammable liquids, water heater fires, defective electric blankets, etc.

How are burn injuries categorized?
Burn injuries are classified by severity, or depth of penetration. Burns may be considered first degree burns if they affect only the top layer of skin called the epidermis, second-degree burns if they affect the epidermis and dermis layers, and third degree burns if there is damage to the bones, muscles and tendons under the skin.

Will a severe burn injury create scarring?
Most burn injuries requiring hospitalization will scar. Generally, the only type of burn that may not cause scarring is the first-degree burn.

How are severe burns treated?
Depending on the severity of the burn injury, patients may undergo basic wound care and bandaging, physical and occupational therapy, skin grafting surgery, splints, manually resisted exercise, scar massage, medication, pain management therapy, reconstructive surgery, and intravenous fluid supplements.

What complications do burn injury patients face?
If you or a loved one suffered a serious burn injury, contact your doctor immediately if any of the following complications occur: unusual swelling or redness, high wound drainage, high fever, chills, persistent vomiting or nausea, shortness of breath, recurring headaches, dizziness, lower leg pain, wound odor, continuous bleeding, or loss of appetite.