Burn Injury Attorney
A Burn Injury Can Cause a Lifetime of Pain and Medical Care
The skin is the body’s largest organ. It acts as a protective barrier between the outside and the inside of the body. However, a burn can severely damage this vital organ and cause serious medical issues for the victim. As a result of a severe burn injury, you can be saddled with large medical bills and lost income—plus, a great amount of pain. When an individual suffers a catastrophic injury like a severe burn, it can change the course of their life. A severe burn victim can have unmanageable pain and disfigurement to their bodies. When a person is severely burned in an accident due to someone’s negligence, they may be able to receive compensation with the help of an experienced burn injury attorney like those at Florin Gray.
What are the Different Types of Burns?
There are three types of burns:
- First-degree – this is when the burn damage is only to the outer layer of skin;
- Second-degree – the burn damage is to the outer layer and the layer underneath; and
- Third-degree – this is the most severe injury, when the burn damages or destroys the deepest layer of skin and tissues underneath, often requiring skin grafts to close the wound.
Burns can cause swelling, blistering, and scarring, and they require careful and competent care from health professionals to avoid the serious risk for infection. In the most serious burn injury cases, a victim can suffer shock and even death.
What are the Most Common Burn Injuries?
A burn is defined as damage to a body’s tissues caused by heat, electricity, radiation, sunlight, or chemicals.
The most common types of burn injuries include the following:
- Scalding. This happens when a person’s skin comes into contact with hot water or steam, usually in the home, but many workers in industrial positions also suffer burns from scalding.
- Electrical burns. An electrical voltage comes into contact with the surface of the skin and can also cause internal damage. These burns can be caused by faulty wiring, product malfunctions, and other electrical failures.
- Chemical Burns. Many people think that these injuries are just caused when acid or other strong or dangerous liquid comes in contact with the skin. However, this type of burn may not always show up immediately after exposure because some chemical burns begin from inside and work their way to the exterior slowly. Chemical burns can result in severe tissue damage and require extensive medical care.
- Inhalation Burns. These are caused by the inhalation of smoke, steam, or toxic fumes.
- Thermal Burns. This type of burn is a result of exposure to fire, such as a fire stemming from an auto accident, a building fire, or a flammable liquid.
- Radiation Burns. These are caused by exposure to X-rays, radiation from medical treatment, as well as from tanning booths or beds.
- Gas Explosions. This type of injury can occur in the home, at work, or on a construction site. Many gas explosions are caused by a gas leak that catches fire. A burn from a gas explosion is catastrophic in many cases and can lead to death.
What are the Common Causes of Severe Burn Injuries?
Burns can occur at almost any time and almost anywhere. But these are some of the most common causes of severe burn injuries:
- Workplace accidents;
- House and apartment fires;
- Motor vehicle accidents;
- Defective products;
- Scalding water or steam in the home or at work;
- Electrical accidents; and
- Fires in public places;
Can I Be Compensated for my Burn Injuries?
The details of where and how your burn injury happened can be very important information for your burn litigation attorney. The circumstances surrounding your burn injury will help determine whether another person or business is responsible.
When an individual suffers serious injury from a burn accident, a burn litigation attorney will investigate and determine who’s at fault. While sometimes an accident is “just an accident,” our burn litigation attorneys have the knowledge and experience to find out if all safety precautions were taken.
A personal injury claim is meant to put the burn victim back in the position he or she was in prior to the injury. This can include compensation for medical bills, loss of income in the past and future, past and future pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring, disfigurement, and future expenses.
To succeed, a victim and his or her burn litigation attorney must show each of the four elements of negligence:
- A person, business or other entity owed the victim a duty of reasonable care;
- That duty of care was breached;
- The breach caused the injury; and
- The injury resulted in damages, such as physical, mental, and financial loss.
Takeaway
Burns can be extremely painful and can cause a lifetime of care requirements. It’s important to hire a lawyer with experience with burn litigation. You need to hire an experienced burn litigation attorney, so please contact Florin Gray. Our legal team is dedicated to the pursuit of justice for the people we represent.
We have more than 100 years of combined experience successfully representing clients in personal injury law, including successfully representing those injured in burn accidents.
