3 Tips For Taking Immediate Action After A Car Accident If You Suspect Whiplash
Posted on: 11 April 2016
If you were in a car accident in which you were hit by another vehicle, you may start experiencing immediate tightness, burning or pain in your neck, especially if it was jerked suddenly on impact. If so, you may have suffered whiplash. If so, use the three tips below for taking immediate action for receiving medical treatment and documenting the injury, especially if the accident was caused by the other driver.
Ask To Be Taken To The Emergency Room At The Scene
After the accident, tell a police officer or paramedic that you need to be taken to the emergency room, especially if you are having pain in your neck or are unable to freely move your head. This step is important for both your health and any future insurance claims.
As far as your health, you want to make sure you have not suffered a broken neck vertebrae or collarbone. Before being placed in the ambulance, a paramedic will stabilize your neck with a brace until an emergency room doctor can take x-rays to rule out any broken bones.
For your insurance claim, the examination immediately after the accident gives you documentation of your diagnosis, as well as doctor's notes for the initial recommended treatment. Doing this right after the accident also makes it clear that the injuries were caused by the accident. If you go home first, then go to the hospital a day later, the opposing driver's attorney could try to claim that you hurt yourself elsewhere.
Document As Much About The Accident And Injury As You Can Remember
While you are waiting in the hospital or shortly after you are released, try to document as many details about the accident and your injury as you can remember. Even the slightest details could help prove that the other driver was at fault.
Also, tell your doctors and nurses as much as you can about the event surrounding your injury, since your description becomes part of your medical record. It also shows consistency with what you state and what is medically documented.
For example, think back to the time of impact. If possible, relay what happened to your head and body. If you remember your head going forward, describe how it felt. Also, document the symptoms you felt immediately after the accident. Precise details can give the doctor a direction for your diagnosis of whiplash, as well as make your symptoms a part of a legal record.
Start A Journal To Document Your Symptoms Each Day
After you are released from the hospital and have called to make an appointment with a car accident attorney, start keeping a daily journal to document your symptoms. The first entry is a good place to write down the details of the accident as described in the previous section. You can also go into detail about how your injury is affecting you emotionally, since this information could be valuable to the lawyer when they approach the insurance companies.
Each day after the initial entry, make notes about how you are feeling overall. And write down not only how the injury is affecting your personally, but also how your family is reacting to you being injured or unable to work. Any detail you can record could help your lawyer win your claim.
Using the above tips can help you receive the proper medical treatment for your whiplash, as well as provide a well-documented case for your attorney to present to the auto insurance companies. If you have any further questions about what you can do, you may want to speak with a car accident lawyer like Master Weinstein Moyer, P.C., who can give you specific advice for your unique case.
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