Burn injuries are one of the most painful wounds to experience. Learn about burn injuries and how a Columbus burn injury lawyer may be able to help you get compensation.
Burn victims are left with excruciatingly painful injuries that might lead to a permanent disability or scarring. In instances where someone’s negligence caused a person to suffer a burn injury, such victims may benefit from hiring a Columbus personal injury lawyer. This lawyer would provide you with the necessary legal advice required for your personal injury lawsuit.
Most personal injury law firms offer their services to burn victims because they understand the financial, physical, and emotional implications. As a result, they will work hard to try to get the necessary compensation for your injuries. If you or a loved one is a burn victim, contact Babin Law, LLC to discuss your legal options with a Columbus burn injury lawyer.
What Are the Common Causes of Burn Injuries?
Burn injuries occur due to several reasons. Below are the most common causes of burn injuries.
Vehicle Accidents
These accidents include motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, auto accidents, etc. Motor vehicle accidents can lead to burn injuries because the gasoline in a vehicle, after a collision, can ignite and cause the car to catch fire.
After a car accident, you should do the following:
- Seek medical attention
- Contact an experienced Columbus car accident lawyer
- Report to the Columbus police and get a police report
- Inform the appropriate insurance companies
It is also essential to be informed about the various causes of motor vehicle accidents. These include:
- Distracted driving
- Head-on collisions
- Intersection collisions
- Violation of traffic laws
- Reckless driving
- Drunk driving
Defective Products
Products that have one defect or another can cause catastrophic injuries to users. Such dangerous products can either spark or overheat, and when this happens, they can start a fire. The fault party in such cases would be the manufacturers of the products. This would make them responsible for providing financial compensation to burn victims.
Apartment or Hotel Fires
Apartments and hotels are central locations that experience a considerable percentage of fire outbreaks in the US. The top causes of apartment fires include cooking accidents, heaters, electrical malfunction, household appliances, and others.
Workplace Fires
Workplace accidents take place often, and a fire outbreak is a workplace accident. The significant causes of workplace fires include faulty electrical equipment, improper storage of flammable materials, lack of staff training, arson, etc.
Gas Explosions
Gas explosions are hazardous, and they cause the most severe burns. Victims of gas explosions often find themselves with third or fourth-degree burns. Propane gas and natural gas are the two main causes of gas explosions.
Types and Degrees of Burns
There are various types of burns. We would be discussing these five: thermal, chemical, friction, radiation, and electrical burns.
Thermal Burns
This type of burn occurs when you come in contact with something hot. For example, thermal burns happen when you touch fire, hot liquid or steam, hot items like cooking pots, etc.
Chemical Burns
Chemical burns take place when your skin comes in contact with certain chemicals or harsh irritants. Examples of substances that could cause chemical burns are bleach, battery acid, strong cleaning agents, chlorine, etc.
Friction Burns
Friction burns happen when your skin repeatedly rubs against a hard surface. These burns are usually in degrees. While first-degree friction burns often heal on their own, the more serious friction burns require medical treatment.
Radiation Burns
Radiation burns are more common amongst cancer patients that are going through radiation therapy. Doctors use high-energy therapy to eliminate cancerous cells, but at the same time, this radiation also damages the skin cells. The sores and ulcers that develop look and feel like burns, making radiation burns a type of burns.
Electrical Burns
This burn happens when the body of an individual comes in direct contact with an electric current. Because our bodies are not resistant to electricity, when there is a strong jolt from a faulty socket or extension cord, for example, into the body, the person suffers from electrical burns.
Degrees of Burns
The degree of burns shows the extent of damage of the burn injury. Doctors categorize burns into four degrees. They are:
- First-Degree Burns: First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of skin of an individual. Therefore, the chances of long-term damage to the skin are rare. The skin may be red and painful, but there won’t be blisters.
- Second-Degree Burns: In a second-degree burn, the outer layer of skin and the dermis, which is the layer underneath, gets damaged. As a result, the skin will be red, swollen, it may look shiny, and there will be blisters.
- Third-Degree Burns: Third-degree burns or full-thickness burns destroy two layers of skin. As a result, the skin color may appear black, brown, yellow, or white. This type of burn damages the nerve endings, so you might not feel pain.
- Fourth-Degree Burns: This last degree of burn is the deepest and most severe degree of burn. It can be life-threatening, as it destroys all the layers of one’s skin, bones, tendons, and even muscles. Because of this, some patients may require skin grafts. A skin graft is a surgical operation where a healthy piece of skin is transplanted to replace the damaged skin of the burn victim.
How Do I Treat Burn Injuries?
Burns can lead to life-altering injuries if you do not handle them properly when they happen. While you can manage some burn injuries through first aid treatment, others require professional medical care. Minor burns take a couple of weeks before they heal completely. After first aid treatment, the more serious ones will require medications, therapy, wound dressings, and sometimes surgery.
You can follow these steps to treat minor burns at home, school, work, hotel, etc.
- Cool the burn by holding the burn under cool, running water. Avoid using ice on burns as this can cause more damage to the affected tissue.
- Remove any tight item, such as rings, from the affected area.
- Any fluid-filled blister from the burn protects the injury from infection. So, avoid breaking these blisters. If the blister breaks, clean the area with water and apply an antibiotic ointment.
- After the burn has cooled, apply lotion to the injury. The lotion will prevent the area from drying while also providing relief.
- The next step you should take is to bandage the burn with a sterile gauze bandage.
- Taking over-the-counter painkillers like Ibuprofen will help with the pain.
If your burn is severe, you need to get to the nearest clinic for proper medical care and examination. In addition, your doctor might recommend you take a tetanus shot to fight against the infection of the injury.
What Are the Types of Damages in a Columbus Burn Injury Claim?
If you want to get a fair settlement for your burn injuries, hiring a Columbus personal injury lawyer may give you a better chance of getting what you’re entitled to. But before you begin the claims process, you need to know the damages in a burn injury claim. There are three types of damages in a burn injury claim. They are:
Economic Damages
Economic damages are those financial losses you incur due to the physical injury caused by the burn. These damages are:
- Medical expenses
- Funeral expenses (if it’s a wrongful death claim)
- Loss of wages
- Loss of future income
Non-Economic Damages
The non-economic damages compensate victims for their intangible losses. They include:
- Loss of companionship
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability or disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
Punitive Damages
It is not in all cases that compensation for punitive damages is given for burn injuries. However, in cases where it was gross misconduct by the fault party that led to the burn injury of the victim, punitive damages are awarded.
Why Should I Hire a Columbus Burn Injury Lawyer?
According to a CDC report, about 1.1 million burns are recorded in the US each year. Many of these burn injury victims may be entitled to get compensation from the party who caused the accident that led to the fire. Unfortunately, people in this situation do not know the next steps to take. This is where a Columbus burn injury attorney can be useful.
A personal injury or burn injury attorney is an experienced lawyer that may be able to help you through the entire process of filing your claim. Below are some of the benefits of hiring a Columbus burn injury/personal injury lawyer.
- They help in dealing with insurance companies.
- Your lawyer will explain your insurance policy and rights to you to prevent insurance companies from cheating you.
- They ensure you get a reasonable amount in your accident compensation claim.
- A good lawyer makes sure the negligent parties in your case are brought to book.
- Your accident attorneys are legal experts, and as such, they will walk you through the legal process to make it less of a hassle.
- They would help gather evidence for your case, such as medical reports, police reports, etc.
Our personal injury lawyers have a wide range of experience, so hiring them may prove useful to your case.
Contact the Columbus Burn Injury Lawyers at Babin Law, LLC
The role personal injury attorneys may play in the success of a burn injury lawsuit cannot be underemphasized. At Babin Law, LLC our legal team provides personalized attention to our clients. We dedicate our time and resources to ensuring they get the best results for their case.
With us, you get a free, no-obligation consultation for your case. You also do not have to worry about attorney fees because if we do not win your case, you do not have to pay us. We win our cases through hard work, attention to detail, and commitment to ethics.
Our legal team delivers effective and diligent service to our clients. So, contact us with your case today; we are available 24/7.
