Emergency Medical Response Times in Alabama and How They Affect Personal Injury Claims

If you’re in any type of accident, you need to take care of your physical and emotional health. The moments after a serious accident are not the time to tough through the pain. It’s essential to put your health first. Seeking immediate medical care helps you, your family, and your recovery — physically and legally. The first step you should take if you are in a vehicle accident, a slip and fall, or an accident due to defective products, is to seek immediate medical attention at the nearest emergency center. If you have burn injuries, the emergency doctors may send you to be examined at the closest Alabama burn center.

At Martin and Helms, our personal injury lawyers have more than 25 years of experience fighting for personal injury victims. We understand the many different types of injuries that accident victims suffer. We work with medical specialists in a broad range of practice areas. Our trial lawyers understand the strategies insurance companies and defense lawyers will assert to try to limit the amount of damages you receive.

How does emergency medical care after an accident work?

Normally, if you’re involved in a vehicle accident, the police will be called to the accident site. The police will take steps to prevent any further accidents. They can obtain your contact and insurance information and those of everyone else involved. They should call for emergency medical transport (ambulances) and other emergency medical services if you are seriously injured. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics should help address any immediate emergencies, such as victims with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic amputations, and burn injuries.

If the police don’t arrange for medical transportation or you’re involved in an accident where the police are not called to investigate, then you should make arrangements to go to the nearest hospital emergency room – with the help of friends who can drive you or call for emergency transport services. You should also make an appointment with your local family doctor to examine you as soon as possible (whether you have emergency care or not).

Why delaying emergency medical care can harm your medical recovery

Many injuries require immediate medical attention to prevent further harm and to stabilize your condition. Without immediate medical attention, your condition could worsen, potentially in a rapid fashion.

The sooner doctors make a diagnosis, the sooner they can address many critical healthcare decisions, such as:

• Whether you should be admitted to the hospital
• What specialists should review your medical care
• Whether you need surgery
• Whether you need any life-saving treatments, such as blood-clotting medication for a stroke
• What immediate treatments, other than surgeries, do you need

For many different injuries, the sooner you begin your medical treatments, the stronger and faster your recovery will be. Some patients may benefit from psychological counseling in addition to caring for their physical injuries. In some cases, delays in treatment may mean the difference between being able to function and not being able to function.

For example, prompt amputation surgery may mean the difference between being able to use a prosthetic device and not being able to use a prosthetic device. Some injuries, such as internal bleeding and soft tissue injuries, can be especially hard to treat without an early diagnosis.

Emergency doctors can also diagnose conditions that may not have immediate symptoms, such as concussions. This diagnosis can help improve your recovery and relax your fears when the symptoms do develop.

Why delaying emergency medical care can harm your legal recovery

Prompt emergency care also supports your legal claim for damages in several respects:

Liability

A successful personal injury claim requires showing that a defendant owed you a duty of care, that they breached the duty of care, and that the breach is the cause of your injuries.

For example, a successful car accident claim might include showing that you were struck by a driver (drivers owe all other drivers a duty to drive safely) who breached their duty of care by driving while intoxicated. Those two factors aren’t enough. For a successful claim, we need to show that the drunk driving collision caused your injuries. By delaying treatment, you give the insurance company an opening to argue that your injuries are due to some cause other than the accident – such as a pre-existing condition or another type of accident after the collision.

By seeking immediate medical care, the medical reports (and accompanying diagnostic tests, oral and physical exams, and doctor notes) of the attending doctors should show that the collision is the direct and only cause of your injuries.

In some cases, emergency care may be delayed due to factors outside your control — such as long EMS response times in rural areas or overwhelmed ER departments. Our legal team can help document these delays and show that they did not reflect a lack of urgency on your part.

Damages

If you delay seeking medical attention, the insurance companies and defense lawyers are likely to argue that your injuries aren’t that serious, because, if you were hurting as much as you claim, you would have gotten immediate medical help instead of waiting.

By seeking emergency medical care, you strengthen your claim that you should receive compensation for:

• The cost of all your medical treatments, including surgeries, hospital stays, doctor visits, physical therapy, occupational therapy, other types of rehabilitative therapy, assistive technology, and medications.
• All of your physical pain and emotional suffering, which includes your discomfort, inability to use a body part, anxiety, depression, and all other physical and emotional trauma.
• Your inability to work because your injuries prevent you from performing your job tasks.
• Other damages, including the loss of life’s pleasures and loss of consortium (enjoyment of marital relations).

How to protect your rights if emergency medical care is delayed through no fault of your own

Our Huntsville personal injury lawyers help accident victims show that they did seek prompt medical care, even when the time they see a doctor is delayed. We do this by speaking with and obtaining reports from everyone involved in your care from the time of the accident through the time of the first medical appointment. The people involved may include the police officer, emergency medical transport personnel, the admitting staff at the emergency room, family, friends, and other people.

Our personal injury lawyers have the experience and working relationships with medical professionals to anticipate and counter the arguments insurance companies are likely to assert to deny or limit your claim. Call Martin and Helms now or fill out our contact form to schedule a free initial consultation. We’re ready to fight for all the compensation you deserve.