Slip and fall injuries are common accidents that people often fail to recognize as life threatening events. Slip and fall accidents account for 35% of brain injuries. Most people do not realize that they are a common cause of serious accidents. Those who are not affiliated with the medical or legal fields would not necessarily realize this.
According to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits. At 21.3%, they represent the leading cause of emergency room visits. In addition, the Bureau of Labor reports that almost 5% of women and 11% of men face job-related falls.
Types of Fall Injuries
Human skulls are an important part of the body because they protect one of the most important organs in the human body: the brain. Head injuries are common in slip and fall accidents. When the skull collides with a floor or wall, it can cause significant damage to your brain, which can wreak havoc on your physical and emotional health. A head collision causes trauma and can even fracture the skull.
A head injury can lead to several complications, both physical and mental, such as future cognitive problems or internal bleeding that can affect your eyesight and hearing.
Types of injuries that victims face:
- Skull Injuries:
A skull fracture is a head injury where there is a break in the skull bone. A skull injury may not sound like a typical brain injury, but it is related to your head and may cause brain and nerve dysfunction. Mild breaks can cause relatively minor problems and may heal properly with time.
Severe breaks, however, can lead to complications including bleeding, brain damage, leaking of cerebrospinal fluid, infection and seizures. In some cases, a piece of broken skull bone can become lodged in the brain.
Skull fractures occur when your head collides with a hard object or vice-versa. When someone falls, it is common for the head to collide with significant force into a floor or wall.
Skull injuries can be either open or closed. An open skull injury is one in which something breaks or penetrates the skull and brain. A closed skull injury is one that does not break the skull. Both types of injuries can lead to serious problems, such as:
- Headaches, blurred vision, nausea, irritability, confusion, and fainting are common symptoms of skull fractures.
- Tenderness and swelling around the impact area.
- Nose bleeds, bleeding from the ears, and facial bruising from skull fractures.
- A minor or major cognitive impairment from a skull fracture is also possible.
- In addition to open and closed fractures, there are depressed and nasal fractures, as well as other related injuries.
A doctor can assess the severity of the injury and prescribe the appropriate treatment after a thorough medical evaluation. Any injury to the head can make you physically and mentally impaired if you fail to get treatment in a timely manner. You should not have to pay medical expenses for treatment of a skull fracture caused by someone else’s negligence.
- Nerve Damage:
All parts of the human body are connected via the nervous system. The central nervous system comprises the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system are nerves that branch off from the spinal cord and to other parts of the body. Billions of nerve cells are channeled throughout the entire human body.
Trauma can occur from a serious fall, which can cause damage to the ends of the nerve fibers, causing miscommunication between the central nervous system and the brain. If you have nerve damage due to a head injury, you can suffer from loss of vision, tastelessness, verbal skills, etc.
- Laceration:
A laceration is a deep cut of the skin and underlying flesh. A serious collision can cause tearing or cutting of the tissues inside your brain. It can occur as a byproduct of a skull fracture. Flying debris or a piece of skull or bone damaged in an accident can cut into the brain tissue, causing significant cognitive and physical damage.
This is called a cerebral laceration or brain laceration in medical terms. Internal bleeding and the loss of consciousness are possible results of a brain laceration.
- Hematoma:
Brain damage can result in blood clotting inside the brain. Brain damage can affect the blood vessels, veins, and arteries that transport electrical signals and blood to the body. Increased blood flow may cause the unwanted presence of blood pooling and collecting in different parts of the brain. This condition is called a hematoma.
When a hematoma occurs inside the brain, it is undoubtedly dangerous. If you have suffered or are suffering from a hematoma caused by an accident, there could be many medical complications. Brain injuries are a type of personal injury for legal purposes if they were caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing.
The bleeding and blood clotting creates pressure inside the skull. As a result, people with a hematoma can lose consciousness or experience other permanent damage.
The severity of head injuries
Our head is one of the worst possible places to get injured when involved in an accident. It might not be the most vulnerable part of the body, but our entire body is susceptible to damage when the brain is damaged. Multiple concussions can occur from any sort of head injury.
There are several head and brain injuries that can be caused by accidents such as car accidents, fall accidents, motor vehicle accidents, sports accidents, etc. If we are the unfortunate victim of an accident that is someone else’s fault, a legal professional can help us file a complaint against the negligent party by filing a personal injury claim.
You may be able to receive insurance money to cover medical bills related to your injuries. If you are not able to receive insurance money, either because the insurance company disputes the amount or the negligent party did not carry insurance, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover damages. An attorney can help explain your options.
Here is a list of common head injuries with a brief description.
- Concussion:
A concussion results from a bump or blow to the head that results in, typically, moderate and temporary brain dysfunction. A concussion may be caused by a fall or accident where there is a force to the body that is strong enough to forcefully jerk the head. A concussion is a form of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Accidents such as falls, vehicle collisions, motorcycle spills, etc., can cause significant blows to the head. Sports like football and boxing can similarly result in head injury. A single concussion does not usually cause permanent brain damage. Multiple concussions over time may result in harmful changes to your brain.
A concussion might not be severe or life-threatening, but you should get medical attention even if the injury does not seem significant. Effects from a concussion can be serious and last for several days or weeks. With proper treatment, most people are healed within a few days; however, without a medical examination, you may fail to identify a more serious injury, such as internal bleeding or hemorrhaging.
- Brain Hemorrhage:
A brain hemorrhage is a stroke caused by a burst artery in the brain that creates localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues. When we hit our head hard enough to cause bleeding, the bleeding can kill brain cells. There are different types of hemorrhages, such as subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracranial hemorrhage. The former is when the areas around our brain bleed, and the latter is when tissue within the brain bleeds.
- Subarachnoid hemorrhages cause headaches and vomiting. The more the bleeding, the more dangerous the situation is. You need to see a doctor as soon as possible before more bleeding creates pressure inside the skull, creating a life-threatening head injury.
- Intracranial hemorrhage is itself a life-threatening injury. Epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, and intracerebral hemorrhage are different types of ICH.
Tasks a legal professional will perform for you!
Injuries, mishaps, and accidents occur without any notice. Accidents are inherently unplanned and unintentional. The best thing you can do is to be prepared when one happens by knowing what to do afterwards. One of the wisest things you can do is to contact a personal injury attorney. This can be a great advantage if you have been involved in an accident.
- Strategic effort and approaches to know your case better
Different attorneys deal with clients in different ways. Competent attorneys provide their client’s with adequate time and utilize specific strategies to investigate the details of the case. With their experience, they may understand approaches that you might not have been aware of.
Knowledge of the law and legal process provides you with the right advice to secure your right to recover damages. For example, a lot of victims fail to realize that the other person should be held accountable for their injuries. An attorney will be able to analyze the issues in your case and keep your claim moving toward a fair result.
A lawyer can recover the compensation that you deserve. They will not hesitate to dig into details, including reviewing traffic light patterns, tracking down witnesses, researching the weather on a given day, and more. The investigation will include reviewing anything that may have contributed to your accident and help to prove the other party’s liability.
- Case investigation and discovery
Hiring expert witnesses, gathering detailed evidence, conducting in-person or onsite examinations are all parts of a proper investigation. Legal professionals will obtain photographs of the scene, draft diagrams, or obtain closed circuit videos, if available. They can obtain official reports from employers or the police, depending on the type of accident you were involved in.
They can perform these tasks, as well as the time-consuming process of preparing documents and other paperwork for litigation. They can also contact your doctor to obtain medical records that demonstrate your current health conditions.
- Talking to your insurance agency
The insurance company may require complex details and information regarding your injury. They may want to negotiate a settlement with you. A legal professional will know how to discuss your case in a manner that represents your best interests.
Contact a Philadelphia Slip and Fall Lawyer at The Law Offices of Samuel Fishman to assist you with filing an injury claim. Whether you have been involved in an automobile accident, slip and fall, or any other type of accident causing a personal injury, contact us today to get the compensation you are owed for your injuries.