By Zane T. Cagle | June 22, 2022 | Car Accidents, Featured, Personal Injury

Why is medical treatment so important after a car accident?

While the answer may seem obvious, the burst of details to manage after a car crash can be overwhelming. You may need to contact your insurance carrier. You may have to haggle to get your car repaired, and you may need to hire a lawyer. When we are overwhelmed, we might fail to prioritize our health. One of the all time biggest mistakes a person can make after an auto accident is to delay medical treatment. Daily, I speak with individuals who have put off medical treatment for a variety of reasons and it is always a huge mistake.

Medical attention can link your injuries to the accident

Just as a police report is needed to document the motor vehicle crash, the medical attention you received documents your injuries. After a crash, some injuries are obvious such as broken bones. However, some injuries can become far more complicated in the first days and weeks if they are not addressed. A lack of documentation of medical treatment can lead to insurance adjusters disputing the severity of your injuries. You may endure weeks of pain but if you do not seek medical treatment, it is the same as not being hurt to an insurance carrier.

Immediate attention allows you to get the appropriate and timely help you need.

More important than medical documentation, seeking medical treatment gets you the actual medical help that you need to get better. When someone wastes time and puts off seeing a doctor immediately, they may suffer pain needlessly and can complicate their medical situation. If you develop pain after a traumatic event such as car crash, then you should not assume it will go away such as straining your legs during a run. Often, many assume they will have some neck and back pain after a crash because the neck and back can be vulnerable. Do not assume. Pain is the body’s signal system that all is not well. In most injury medical scenarios, early treatment increases the chance of a better outcome.

Getting medical treatment immediately is our first step when we talk with anyone following a motor vehicle crash. Accessing immediate and ongoing medical treatment is critical so that you recover and heal. There are collisions that result in traumatic injuries involving emergency surgeries and permanent conditions, loss of limbs, disfiguration. In many of those injury situations, the goal of our firm is to get the client the compensation they need to confront this new way of life. Absent an emergency surgery, we have 100’s of clients somewhere on the road to recovery that may take months or years of medical treatment. By and large, early medical intervention significantly helps those injured in motor vehicle accidents. So, if you have been hurt–GET MEDICAL HELP.

Our Goal for Our Clients

We have the same goal for every one of our clients. We want each client to have maximum medical improvement for their physical recovery. As personal injury attorneys we look for coverage to compensate those injured. Every crash and person is different. While we do not direct your medical treatment, we do support clients while they navigate the medical system. Most of us do not learn about how the medical system works until we are forced. No one enjoys filing insurance claims, let alone taking the time and pains to go see doctors. From our experience, our clients go to the doctors because they have no choice.

Medical treatment documents your injury and the interventions performed in an attempt to resolve your injury. More importantly, medical treatment helps you feel better.

Steps to Take Immediately After a Car Crash

Call 911. The moments that you wait to call emergency personnel could result in loss of life. If you are in a crash in traffic, your crash could cause subsequent traffic congestion and collisions with police assisting. Also, another party in the crash may be seriously hurt and the minutes it takes you to unbuckle, assess yourself and your passengers, look at your car and walk to the other vehicle may be minutes the other party simply cannot afford. Call the police for emergency help, and to coordinate traffic safety, and document the crash. Sometimes people will fail to call the police and just exchange insurance information. Be prepared. Often other drivers will give lapsed insurance information, will recall the incident differently or possibly give you incorrect contact information. If there is no police document, the other driver can essentially deny the crash ever happened. Call the Police.

Take Photos at the Scene – If you are physically able to photograph the scene (all vehicles in the crash), please do so. These photos will be helpful should the other party or insurance carrier attempt to argue liability or evidence of impact.

Exchange Information with all Drivers and Passengers. Again, if you call the police, the police officer will do much of this for you and put that information into a Incident Report. No matter how the crash occurred, you will need that incident report if you are going to make a claim with the other party’s insurance carrier and your own insurance carrier.. You should get names and all contact information for other drivers, passengers and witnesses.

Seek Medical Treatment – If your injury did not require a trip via ambulance or you develop pain in the hours after the crash, seek immediate medical treatment. If you are hurt and an ambulance is offered, take it. So many people think about an ambulance bill first before their physical well being. If your car is not drivable, it will be towed. Take care of you and get to the doctor!!

Call an Attorney. We are really most helpful in the first few days and weeks after a crash. Most people have very similar questions as far as “What do I do next?”, “What do I do in the next 2 days?” We have answers. It is best to talk with an attorney before you talk to an Insurnace adjuster. There is some information that you do not just have to offer up just because the adjuster asks. Primarily, you should not share information about your injury in the first few days after a crash because you have NO IDEA what your injury is and how long it will take for you to recover! That is true for every single person in a car crash accident. Since there is no way for you to possibly know the extent of your injuries, do not share that information with the insurance adjuster. Contact us for free information.

Call us toll free 1.800.685.3302 or locally 314.276.1681

About The Author

Zane T. Cagle

Zane T. Cagle is the founding president and lead trial attorney at The Cagle Law Firm. With a strong dedication to his clients, he has built a reputation for his tenacious representation in personal injury cases, ensuring each client's unique story is heard. Areas of Practice: Personal injury, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death. Bar Admissions: Supreme Court of Missouri, Illinois & Kentucky. Superior Court of U.S. Virgin Islands Education: Washington University School of Law. Awards: Super Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40 by The National Trial Lawyers Association, 10 Best in Missouri for Customer Satisfaction.

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