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Many types of accidents can result in a burn injury that requires medical treatment and attention. Every year, 180,000 deaths occur because of severe burns.
Regardless of the extent of damage, burn injuries can impact muscle and nerve functions, resulting in permanent scarring of the skin. They also remain painful for a long time, keeping most victims out of work.
Depending on which part of the body is affected by the burn injury, treatment plans can vary from plastic to cosmetic surgeries. People who suffer from a serious burn injury are entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Here’s everything you need to know about burn injury accidents.
Causes of Burn Injury Accidents
When you think of a burn injury, you immediately visualize open flames or heat. But there are other causes like hot liquids and steam, electrical burns, chemical exposure, radiation, friction, and contact burns.
According to an annual report, emergency departments in the U.S. have treated over 400,000 patients with burn injuries. More research shows that 20% to 30% of hospitalizations occur due to workplace exposure.
Some of the most severe burn injuries occur in the workplace, like at a construction site or a chemical plant. They can also happen in medical facilities and hospitals, schools, farms, nurseries, or any other public space.
How Are Burn Injuries Categorized?
The most common type of burn injury is a contact burn, often caused by touching an extremely hot surface. Electrocution or exposure to an open flame or chemical can cause the worst kinds of burns, often resulting in permanent scarring.
Symptoms can vary for a burn injury based on how deep the wound is or how badly the skin is damaged. Serious burns take a couple of days to develop, so it’s important to seek medical attention and treatment right away.
The severity of the burn determines its type:
- First-degree burns are considered minor injuries. Such injuries impact only the exterior-most layer of the dermis. They cause redness on the skin and a little sensitivity. First-degree burns can be treated with basic first-aid procedures.
- Second-degree burns affect the outer and second layers of the skin. As a result, they cause painful blisters that often lead to scarring. If left untreated, second-degree burns become septic, so it’s best to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
- Third-degree burns are the most serious injuries that can sometimes be life-threatening. If medical treatment is not provided immediately, the injury can scald deeper layers of the skin, at times damaging your nerves and muscles.
Who’s Liable for a Burn Injury?
If you’ve suffered a severe burn injury, it’s in your best interests to recover fair compensation for all the damages you’ve sustained. Most burn injury cases include a plaintiff (victim) and the defendant (at-fault party).
In the event of a burn injury, the people who are most likely to face liability are:
- Product manufacturers: Burn injuries may occur when a device is defective. If the device has caused physical injury like a contact burn, the manufacturing company becomes liable for selling a defective and/or hazardous product to the public.
- Property owners: Burn injuries may occur when an environment, workspace, or area is no longer considered safe. If the property owner shows negligence to safety protocols, injuries can happen, and the landlord becomes liable for the damage.
- Employers/employees: Burn injuries may occur in the workplace when a staff member lacks the proper training to take the necessary precautions, like wearing proper safety gear. As a result, the employees become liable for the damage sustained.
Who’s Eligible for a Burn Injury Claim?
Burn injuries can alter a victim’s day-to-day lifestyle, impacting social, personal, and professional aspects of life. A burn injury is also quite expensive to treat, especially if the injury is a second- or a third-degree burn.
If the burn injury has reduced a person’s ability to work or affected their earning potential in any way, the victim is eligible for filing a personal injury claim. Burn injuries can leave a person scarred for life, including pain and mental anguish.
Burn victims can claim economic damages like:
- Medical expenses and treatment bills
- Lost wages for the days spent in recovery
- Reduced ability to make a living or income
- Permanent disabilities that require future care
Burn victims can also claim non-economic damages like:
- Emotional loss and suffering
- Wrongful death in a car crash
- Permanent scarring on the body
- Pain and mental anguish
How to Pursue a Burn Injury Claim?
Recovering your losses after a burn injury is not easy. You will need to file a personal injury claim to receive any kind of compensation for your damages.
You can file different types of injury claims, but it will depend on your situation, how the accident took place, and why it occurred. For instance, if a defective product caused the burn, you’ll need to file a product liability claim for your burn injury. Some burns also happen in the workplace, which means you’ll need to look into workers’ compensation laws that apply to your injury.
All these factors influence the amount of compensation you’ll receive. It’s important to establish who the at-fault party is in your case. Depending on the situation, the at-fault party can either be an individual (like a medical professional) or an entity (like a commercial manufacturer) responsible for the burn injury. You can file a lawsuit against an act of negligence or breach of contract.
Once you’ve established who’s responsible for the burn injury and other such sources of liability, you should collect evidence. By taking pictures and videos of the injury, accident scene, damaged property, etc., you can build your case. This includes collecting witness statements and putting medical records together. If the burn was a result of an automotive accident, you’ll need to file a police report.
All these documents are crucial when you’re fighting a burn injury lawsuit. In some cases, the lawsuit is resolved in the form of a settlement. You have an option to hire a reputable lawyer to represent your claim against the defendant.