You may not be sure why medical treatment after a car accident matters — especially if your injuries weren’t severe or life-threatening. Learn why it’s important to see a qualified physician, document your treatment, and get help from a personal injury lawyer after an accident of any magnitude.
What Should I Do After a Car Accident?
Do you need help with how to handle your next steps? Use the following tips immediately after an accident and in the days ahead.
What You Should Do Immediately
• See a doctor: If your crash was severe, you may have already visited an emergency room in an ambulance. Car accident injuries can be mild to severe. It’s not always obvious how badly you are injured or whether you suffer from internal injuries. If you are still determining the severity of your injuries, it’s essential to get checked out by a medical professional.
• Document your health: Keep all medical documents (including treatments, medications, and physical therapy reports) that can help your personal injury lawyer build your car accident injury claim.
• Rest: Immediately following the accident, focus on your health. It’s most important to get medical attention to ensure you’re safe and healthy before proceeding legally (but don’t forget to keep documentation from your appointments!).
What You Should Do In the Days After the Accident
When your head clears, you should address the administrative details involved in a car accident. Depending on how severely you were injured, you may need to ask a loved one for help completing these steps.
• Contact your insurance company: If you were injured, your car likely was damaged, too. Getting a record of your collision on file with your insurance company is essential as soon as possible.
• Continue medical treatment: Follow your doctor’s medical care orders regarding any injuries, bruises, and lacerations you incurred from the car accident.
• Get in touch with a personal injury lawyer: If you want to submit a personal injury claim, it’s best to have an experienced attorney’s help.
What You Should Do In the Weeks and Months After the Accident
• Keep your medical records easily accessible: Consider keeping a digital file of medical records if you have a complicated case. This will make things easier when seeking medical treatment or speaking with personal injury lawyers.
• Watch out for hidden injuries: Car accident injuries can appear days, weeks, or months after a collision. Don’t hesitate to seek medical care or ask questions of your physician, even if it has been months since your accident.
Why You Should Keep Medical Bills and Records Related to Your Car Accident
Your bills and records can help prove you are entitled to compensation after an accident. Consider these points to learn more about why it’s crucial to save every piece of documentation:
Records and bills point to a specific timeline:
If your car accident occurred on the 5th of the month in the afternoon, producing a medical document or bill from that date that details your injuries is very helpful to your case.
Records signify the extent of your injuries:
A sprained ankle is a much different medical problem from a broken arm or a punctured lung. Your records will show how you were hurt, point to your treatment and recovery time, and contain information about your treatment. Your bills may indicate how much that treatment costs.
Records can help prove that the accident wasn’t your fault:
While medical records aren’t foolproof, they can do a lot to show that you did not cause the accident. For example, your records immediately following the crash may indicate that you were not intoxicated or under the influence of a mind-altering substance during the time of the accident.
How A Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help:
A personal injury lawyer can provide advice before, during, and after the claim-filing process. Call 1 800 ASK GARY to learn more about how to get the compensation you deserve.