The spinal cord coordinates the body’s movement and sensation, which is why spinal cord injuries can be very serious. Spinal cord injuries could result in paralysis or death, but even less severe injuries could alter someone’s life.
If you have been injured in an accident, make sure you get the medical attention following a Chattanooga spinal cord injury. By contacting an accomplished lawyer, you can make sure you get the recovery and compensation you need.
Seeking Medical Attention for a Spinal Cord Injury
A spinal cord injury treatment should usually start at an emergency room or at a doctor’s office (most of the time, at an emergency room). A trauma hospital would usually be the best location for a spinal cord injury. After that, he or she should be seen for significant injuries by a specialist, either an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the spinal cord injuries or by a neurosurgeon who specializes in the spinal cord.
Is it Important to Seek Medical Treatment Even if the Person Feels Fine?
Even if the victim feels fine after the accident, he or she should still seek medical attention following a Chattanooga spinal cord injury. A spinal injury can change over a period of time; up to three weeks or so, if there is trauma done to the back. The muscles around the back swell and protect the spinal cord, the vertebrae and the soft tissues in the back initially, but as the swelling relaxes over the following days or weeks, the injury is able to be seen and felt, and the person realizes he or she has a severe injury when on the day of the event, he or she did not believe they were injured at all. This is quite common.
The person should avoid putting his or her back at further risk. He or she should make sure that he or she follows up with the treatment and follow the doctor’s instructions to make sure the injury does not get any worse.
Prioritizing Daily Treatment
A person with a spinal cord injury needs daily treatment and almost always has to have the help of family members or other people living in their house, and so there is a new responsibility given to other people to help the injured victim. This does not just impact the injured victim but also places responsibility on the family members, and also has a traumatic financial influence if the person who is hurt is one of the breadwinners of the family. The priority of the person’s treatment is extremely high because without it he or she cannot get better and therefore everything else in life seems to take a back seat.
Collecting All the Evidence for the Case
After an accident causing a spinal cord injury, an individual needs to preserve all the evidence he or she can. He or she needs to take pictures of where the event took place; how the event took place; exactly what hit him or her or what he or she hit; gather the contact information of any witnesses as best as he or she can and make sure that the event gets reported to the police or to the management of a facility if he or she is in a business or some other type of fielding or property.
Contacting a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
An injured victim with a catastrophic spinal cord injury needs to make sure he or she hires a lawyer who cares about victims of the injury; who understands spinal cord injuries; has experience handling spinal cord injury cases; understands the medicine, causation, and effects of spinal cord injuries. An attorney could make sure you get the necessary medical attention following a Chattanooga spinal cord injury.