You received a burn – whether at work, at home, at a restaurant, or a friend’s house, just to name a few places. Now you are injured, possibly severely. What are the steps that you need to take afterwards to possibly get compensated?
Before consulting a burn injury lawyer, here are some things that you should know.
How Severe Is It?
When you get burned, there are usually three degrees of burns, but there’s also a fourth that is the most severe. Here is how they are categorized:
- First – This is the most mild of the burns. It only affects the first layer of skin. Usually people who get sunburns get this or if they touch something hot and quickly take their hand away.
- Second – People who have these burns have both the top layer and then the second layer, called the dermis, be affected. There will likely be swelling, blistering, and pain. An antibiotic ointment can help.
- Third – This is a dangerous one, since it can keep you feeling the pain, since the nerve endings tend to get burned. All three layers have been burned and it can look black, red, or white. Immediate medical attention is needed.
The medical staff has to determine whether this is a mild, moderate or severe burn.
How Did It Happen?
Was it due to a defective product? Negligence on someone’s part, or was it just bad luck from being in the wrong place at the wrong time? It’s important to determine this, since getting compensated hinges on getting this right. Learn more
If it’s a defective product, then you need to figure out who exactly was at fault. Did it happen when you used the item for what was made for? Who made the defective part?
What Next?
Now is the part where you or your family (if it turned out that you did not survive), needs to talk to a lawyer about how to proceed. Many of them will take the case on the contingency that they will be paid only if you win. They can help calculate any lost wages and also what you might have gotten over the course of your life had you not been injured.
While you or your family may want to just recover from the shock of this catastrophic event, time will be working against you. Burn victims have approximately two years to file their case in California. Don’t let that slip by.
