Roswell Burn Injury Lawyer
Seeking Fair Financial Recovery for Victims of Severe Burns
Were you badly burned in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence? Did your loved one die after suffering severe burn injuries? You may be entitled to financial compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, distress, and other damages. While no amount of compensation can negate what you are currently experiencing, a fair recovery can allow you the ability to move forward in the healing process.
Contact Crow Law Firm at (575) 222-2702 for a free consultation with our experienced Roswell burn injury lawyer.
Types of Burn Injuries
Burns range in severity and are categorized accordingly. While minor burns can often be treated with simple at-home care and an over-the-counter antiseptic, major burns will typically require prompt medical attention.
The three types of burn injuries include:
- First-Degree Burns: Only the outer layer of skin is affected; can result in redness, pain at the burn site, and light scarring
- Second-Degree Burns: Both the outer and lower layer of skin can be affected; marked by redness, swelling, blistering, and pain
- Third-Degree Burns: Both layers of skin and underlying tissue and bone can be affected; marked by severe pain, numbness, “charring” of the skin, and blackened/white skin
Additionally, burn injuries are categorized by type. Examples include:
- Thermal Burns: Such as those caused by fire or contact with hot items
- Electrical Burns: Resulting from contact between electricity and the body
- Chemical Burns: Such as those caused by coming into contact with strong solvents
- Radiation Burns: Often resulting from medical treatments, like x-rays or chemotherapy
- Cold Burns: Also known as “frostbite” and resulting from extremely cold temperatures
- Friction Burns: Such as “road rash,” which is a combination of heat and scraping/abrasions
Treatment for Burn Injuries
As we mentioned in the previous section, minor burns can be treated at home – usually by running the affected area under cool water, applying either aloe vera gel or antibiotic cream, and covering the wound lightly with gauze. Even first-degree burns that cover more than 10% of the body’s surface area, however, can be more serious and require more intense treatment.
Second-degree burns covering 9% or more of the body and all third-degree burns should be handled by a medical professional, as should second- or third-degree burns on the face and genitals. You can use the rule of nines to determine how much of your body the wound covers.
When you seek treatment, your provider will generally clean your wound and prescribe prescription antibiotic cream and painkillers for second-degree burns. Third-degree burns may require a skin graft.
What Is a Skin Graft?
A skin graft is a medical procedure in which your provider takes skin from somewhere else and surgically places it over the burned area to help it heal. Most often, the surgeon will take the skin from an unburned part of your own body. This is called an autograft.
Autograft and other skin grafts are types of burn surgery procedures used to treat serious burns. Recovering from burn surgery procedures takes time, and serious complications can emerge.
Life-Changing Complications
One of the reasons burn injuries are so serious is the potential for complications. Burns can easily get infected, and in serious cases, the infection can get into other parts of the body, including the bloodstream (sepsis).
People who suffer serious burn injuries can also go into shock and suffer heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and hypothermia. Smoke inhalation can burn the lungs and cause difficulty breathing, as well.
Overall, some of the most common complications of burn injuries include:
- Pneumonia
- Sepsis
- Lung failure
- Infection of the wound
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
- Psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
When it comes to burn injuries, many people die of complications.
Even for survivors, burn injuries often result in serious scarring. Scars can be thick, rigid, itchy, and painful for the rest of a burn victim’s life, and even cause disfigurement in the face or genitals.
Burn injuries are extremely difficult to recover from and can require lifelong treatment. This is why burn injuries are considered catastrophic injuries – and why burn injury cases typically result in more compensation.
