If you have suffered significant or permanent disability because of a burn injury, you are not alone. Over 12,000 burn victims are fatally injured each year, while almost a million are seriously injured by fire, electrical, or chemical burns.
Burns of any degree can be extremely painful and the healing from your burn injuries may require a long and painful struggle with extensive rehabilitative treatment, including repeated hospital stays, costly surgeries and ongoing care.
Healing from your burn injuries while attempting to live a normal life and the cost of medical care can be incredibly difficult. However, if your burns are the result of the negligent or reckless actions of another party, you may have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit to compensate you for the pain and suffering, medical bills, and loss of income you have incurred.
The largest organ of the body, your skin, is the first to be damaged when enduring the cause of a burn, and burn injuries are classified by which layers of your skin have been damaged or destroyed.
First-degree burns injuries involve only the first layer of skin, and can be caused by briefly touching hot metal, such as a heated pot or a curling iron.
If both the first and second layers of skin are burned, it is considered a second-degree burn. Despite causing more damage, it’s not unusual for a second-degree burn injury to initially seem only mildly painful if nerve endings have been damaged. Extensive second-degree burn injuries can be very dangerous, and the sensations of pain will increase as nerve endings recover.
The most serious burns are third-degree burns where all layers of skin and underlying tissue is damaged. Third-degree burn injuries will often result in charring of the skin and the formation of leathery legions. Because nerve endings are almost always damaged in a third-degree burn, victims may assume that the injury is not that serious and fail to seek medical attention. However, because third-degree bone injuries can affect muscle and bone, it’s important to seek medical care immediately to reduce your risk of infection or other complications.
Serious burn injuries can occur from more than just fire or touching hot surfaces. Coming in contact with downed electrical wires, caustic chemicals, molten-hot liquids, coal, gas, or even household chemicals, can cause serious damage to your skin.
Other common causes of burns include:
Other causes of burn injuries are directly related to another party’s negligence in creating the hazard, such as, Hotel and apartment managers are liable for burn injuries or deaths that occur due to building code violations. Also, a lack of working smoke detectors, locked or unmarked fire exits, or faulty sprinkler systems can create additional liability.
At the Mann Law Firm, our California burn injury attorneys are dedicated to helping you obtain compensation that covers any financial damages associated with your burn injury.
Our attorneys understand that while new technology can improve the quality of a burn injury victims life, treatments are incredibly costly. We will fight for your settlement to relieve the burden of medical bills, physical therapy and emotional distress.
Don’t face the economic strain of recovering from a serious burn injury alone. We will aggressively fight for your rights and make sure that you receive the maximum compensation possible.
Contact the Mann Law Firm today for a free consultation at (408) 287-1600, so that we may learn more about your claim.