Burn injuries are some of the most painful and significant injuries you can sustain. Every year, over one million Americans require medical attention for burn victims. They may require skin graft surgery and leave the injury victim with permanent scarring and disfigurement. Not only are burn injuries painful, but they also cost a lot and leave injury victims with staggering medical expenses.
The good news is that after you experience a catastrophic burn injury, a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney can help you seek compensation for all your damages.
Tampa Burn Injury Victims May Be Entitled to Compensation
If your burn injuries result from someone else’s negligent or careless actions, you may be entitled to seek damage recovery from the at-fault party. A Tampa Burn Injury Attorney can help you identify all responsible parties and hold them accountable.
We understand the emotional and physical strain a burn injury can have on your life. That’s why we are committed to fighting to win justice for our clients. We’ll answer all of your questions and communicate with you throughout the entire process. We handle your case diligently with a compassionate and respectful approach while giving you space to heal and grieve.
The Different Levels of a Burn Injury
Burns are painful injuries that affect the skin and tissue, usually caused by heat, radiation, radioactivity, or electricity. Burns are assessed on the level and severity (called degrees). The deeper and more significant the burn, the higher its degree.
First-Degree Burns
First-degree burns are superficial burns that affect the outer layer of the skin. There’s usually no blistering, but the skin will be tender and red. It will also be painful to touch. Most of us have experienced first-degree burns from being out in the sun for too long (sunburn). It’s rare for a first-degree burn to cause long-term damage to the skin.
Second-Degree Burns
Second-degree burns are also known as “partial thickness burns.” This is because they permeate the first and second layers of the skin (epidermis and dermis). As a result, second-degree burns often blister and swell and may leave light scarring.
Third-Degree Burns
Third-degree burns are known as “full-thickness burns.” They travel deep under the epidermis and dermis and reach subcutaneous tissue. Sometimes, third-degree burns damage nerve endings and completely destroy the outer layers of skin. The injury site often turns white after the initial burn, leaving the skin looking leathery after it heals. Sometimes skin grafts are needed for third-degree burns.
Fourth-Degree Burns
The most severe case of a burn is a fourth-degree burn. This burn passes through the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue, damaging muscles, tissues, bones, or even organs. Additionally, they are often life-threatening.
Different Types of Burns
- Chemical burns – caused by acids, alkaline chemicals, drain cleaner, paint thinners, gasoline, or a chemical reaction explosion.
- Electrical burns – caused by contacting an electrical current.
- Thermal burns – caused by heat, such as hot liquids, metals, steam, or fire.
- Radiation burns – burns that result from extended exposure to sunlight, artificial UV light, or other types of radiation.
Common Causes of Tampa Burn Injuries
The most common causes of burn injuries in Tampa are:
- Motor vehicle collisions
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Premises liability accidents
The Dire Consequences of Burn Injuries
Whether you sustained burn injuries from a defective product or a car accident, the aftermath of a burn injury can be excruciating. Even a minor burn can cause substantial discomfort and pain to the victim and require extensive treatment.
Burn injury victims also find they are limited in their scope of activities after the injury. The pain and suffering or location of the injury can prohibit someone from doing activities they love, working, engaging with their loved ones, or just daily routine activities.
Missed work means you will probably not be making any money. As such, a burn injury can wreak havoc on the injury victim and their entire family. Especially if the burn injury victim is the main provider for their family, some burn injuries may even prevent someone from returning to the same position or being able to work at all. This could change the entire course of the family’s future.
Furthermore, burn treatment is expensive. The medical bills can quickly add up and overwhelm injury victims if they don’t recover from those expenses. Medical expenses frequently affiliated with burn injuries include:
- Ambulance transport
- Imaging tests such as X-rays and MRIs
- Extended hospital stays
- Doctor visits
- Burn specialist visits
- Surgery
- Therapy
- Rehab
- Medication
- Medical devices
- In-home or nursing care
Although the aftermath of a burn injury is gravely intense, with the help of a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney, injury victims can recover compensation to help them heal and move forward with their lives.
Why Should I Hire a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney?
If you want to get maximum compensation for severe burns, it’s critical to find skilled legal representation. Significant burn injuries are often considered catastrophic injuries in personal injury claims. That means you might be entitled to a higher award for your damages.
A Tampa Burn Injury Attorney can assess your case and help determine if you are eligible to claim for any of these damages:
- Emergency medical care costs, including ambulance bills or other transportation
- Hospitalization costs, such as burn injuries, often require extensive hospital stays
- Specialized burn center treatment expenses
- Rehabilitation therapy
- Surgical procedures (skin grafts or reconstructive surgery)
- Prosthetic devices
- Lost income
- Lost earning potential
- Anticipated future medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
To win your case, you’ll need plenty of evidence to prove all damages. In addition to assisting you in gathering evidence, your Tampa Burn Injury Attorney may reach out to experts to testify on your behalf. Additionally, very experienced and skilled Tampa Burn Injury Attorneys know how to strategically and correctly use case precedents to support your case.
How Can a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney Help Me?
A Tampa Burn Injury Attorney will protect your legal rights and fight for you to get what you deserve. That includes reimbursement for all your inconveniences, pain, suffering, trauma, and all economic damages.
A Tampa Burn Injury Attorney will help move your case along efficiently while you focus on healing and recovery. In addition, they can help file a personal injury claim in a timely manner and hold all liable parties accountable. If you sustained burn injuries in any of the following scenarios, you could benefit from hiring a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney:
- You might have a premises liability claim if you sustained burn injuries on someone else’s property. In this case, the owner, occupier, or lessor would be liable if their negligence caused your burn injury.
- If you were harmed to du a defective product, device, vehicle, or electrical system, you could file a product liability claim.
- If a drunk driver caused a car collision that resulted in fire and burn injuries, you could file a negligence lawsuit against them.
Insurance companies don’t readily or easily give money away. In fact, they almost always offer less than what you truly deserve. That’s why having an experienced Tampa Burn Injury Attorney who has won burn injury cases and can advocate for your best interests is important. Finally, a good Tampa Burn Injury Attorney will show your losses and that you are fully entitled to recover for them.
Contact a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney Today For Legal Help
Our Tampa personal injury attorneys have over 60 years of experience representing injury victims. We’ve handled numerous Tampa burn injury cases and recovered insurmountable financial awards for our clients. That’s because we are committed and will fight tirelessly until we get the best possible outcome for our clients.
We know how devastating it is to deal with burn injuries. That’s why we will treat you with compassion and give you the space to recover while we handle all legal proceedings and communications on your behalf.
Contact us today for a free initial consultation with a Tampa Burn Injury Attorney.
