Receiving Medical Attention After an Accident

After any accident, particularly one involving your head or neck, it is important to seek medical attention, even if you do not believe that you are injured. This is because many injuries do not appear immediately, but could be detected and treated sooner with a doctor’s intervention. In particular, traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, can easily go undetected. The symptoms and impacts of these undetected injuries can cost you more than your health, starting with lost wages and medical bills.
Detecting Injury
The first step after an accident is to ensure that all those involved are uninjured. If there are no obvious injuries, you may proceed with the typical exchange of information before contacting emergency services. However, even if you do not request ambulance transport, you should consult a doctor immediately after the accident in order to ensure that you do not have any injuries that need treatment. The doctor will also be able to warn you about potential injuries that may appear later. If you do not show symptoms, but the doctor suspects that you could be suffering from a head injury, he or she may tell you to watch for symptoms, including:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Feeling nauseated
• Vomiting
• Sensitivity to noise or light
• Anxiety
• Blurry vision
• Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly
• Sleep disturbances, including sleeping more or less than usual or having trouble falling asleep
• Irritability
• Feeling slow or “off”

These symptoms can seem like typical responses to a rough day or the onset of another illness, leading some accident victims to ignore them. However, if you suffered any loss of consciousness or have lost any memories from the time around the accident, these symptoms are more likely a sign of head injury.
If you notice any of these symptoms after an accident, see your doctor immediately. These symptoms can appear long after your accident, but that does not mean that they are not related. Your doctor will ask you about numerous potential causes of your symptoms, helping you to identify the cause and ensuring that your treatment is effective.
Seeking Compensation
Once you discover your head injury, you will accrue some medical bills and may have already lost some wages as a result of a need for time off work. Under Georgia law, you can recover compensation for your injuries from the at-fault party as long as you were less than 50% responsible for the accident or injury. Your account of the accident, along with any relevant police reports and witness statements, will prove both that you were not at fault and that the defendant did cause the accident.
Additionally, you must be able to show that the accident caused your injuries. This is another reason to consult with a doctor immediately after your accident, since your medical records can help to establish causation.
Contact an Attorney
If you have suffered a head injury as a result of an accident, you need the experienced attorneys at Jonathan R. Brockman, a Personal Injury Law Firm, at your side. The late discovery of head injuries does not bar you from recovering compensation.