Should You Go to the Hospital After an Accident?

After a car accident, you might be shaken up and in a state of shock. You might not know what you should do when it comes to things like going to the hospital. This may be particularly true if you don’t have obvious injuries, like a broken bone. 

Generally, it is a good idea to seek medical treatment after a car accident even if you aren’t sure if you are hurt or think that your injuries are minor. Seeking medical care is the best way to protect your health, as you will be able to get the correct diagnosis and treatment. Going to the hospital is also a good way to protect your legal rights, as it will help to establish a clear link between your injuries and the car accident.

Based in Melville, New York, The Odierno Law Firm fights for the rights of accident victims throughout Long Island. We offer free initial consultations and handle all cases on a contingency fee basis. Contact our law offices today to schedule an appointment with a New York personal injury lawyer.

Signs that You Should Go to the Hospital After a New York Car Accident

Some car accidents are severe enough that the need to seek medical attention is obvious. For example, if you suffer a spinal cord injury and can’t move your legs after a collision, then you probably won’t question whether you need to go to the hospital. However, some other types of injuries – such as brain injuries – often have more subtle symptoms that can often be masked by shock in the immediate aftermath of a crash.

Some signs and symptoms that should prompt you to seek immediate medical care. If you experience any of the following, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible:

1. Loss of consciousness: losing consciousness, even for just a minute or two, is often a symptom of a brain injury or concussion. It should be considered a warning sign, and taken seriously.
2. Visible injuries: if you have any sort of visible injury – like bleeding, broken bones, or deep cuts – you should get to the doctor as soon as possible. 
3. Severe pain or discomfort: if you have any type of serious pain or discomfort, from a burning or stabbing sensation to deep aches to persistent headaches, you should seek out medical care.
4. Chest pain or difficulty breathing: if you experience shortness of breath, chest pain, or otherwise have trouble breathing, it could be a sign of internal injuries, rib fractures, or even a punctured lung.
5. Dizziness or headaches: both dizziness and headaches can be a sign of a concussion or traumatic brain injury. Seek medical attention promptly if you experience these symptoms after a motor vehicle accident.
6. Numbness or tingling: if you have a sensation of numbness or tingling, especially in your arms or legs, it could be a symptom of nerve damage after a motor vehicle accident.
7. Neck or back pain: any type of pain in your neck or back, even days after a car accident, could be a sign of a serious injury to the spine or head.
8. Pain or swelling in the abdomen: abdominal pain or swelling is often a symptom of internal bleeding. 
9. Changes in your physical function or personality: things like suddenly having trouble balancing or being more irritable after a car accident could be a sign of a brain injury.
10. Confusion or memory problems: head injuries may cause a range of symptoms that may not appear immediately after a car accident, like confusion or memory lapses.

Even if you aren’t showing signs of a more serious injury, it is typically a good idea to go to the hospital. Even if you turn out to be OK, you’ll still get checked out and given a clean bill of health – which will give you peace of mind as you move forward. If you do have an injury, then you will be able to get a diagnosis and treatment, which will start you on your journey towards a full recovery.

When we are involved in a traumatic or distressing situation, our bodies release adrenaline into the bloodstream.  Known as the fight or flight hormone, adrenaline gives our muscles a boost of energy, makes us breathe faster, increases our heart rate, sends blood to our muscles, makes us sweat, and stops the production of insulin (which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood). This adrenaline rush gives us the ability to deal with immediately dangerous or stressful situations.

While this extra adrenaline is meant to protect us from danger, it can also mask symptoms of certain injuries. That is why it is so important to seek medical care, even if you don’t think that you are hurt or that your injuries aren’t serious. Going to the hospital, urgent care, or the doctor should be considered a priority for everyone who is involved in a motor vehicle accident, whether you are a driver or passenger. 

Why Should I Seek Medical Treatment After a Car Accident?

At The Odierno Law Firm, P.C., we are frequently asked the question, “If I didn’t go to the doctor right after my accident, would it negatively affect my case?” While the answer may vary, depending on the specific nature of each individual case, it should serve as a lesson to all car accident victims that seeking medical attention after a crash is crucial. 

First and foremost, it is important to make sure that your health has not been compromised. Even if you are unsure of whether or not you have actually suffered an injury, it is always a good idea to play it safe—since, in some cases, your injuries may not be visible. Simply put, you should never ignore the feeling that something isn’t quite right.

Delaying Medical Treatment

Delaying medical treatment can often make injuries worse. For example, if you suffered a cut and didn’t properly clean it, it may get infected – which can lead to a host of complications. More seriously, if a brain injury isn’t treated promptly, it can allow swelling to increase inside the skull, which can cause permanent disability or even death.

Getting a prompt assessment by a medical professional is the best way to ensure that you don’t experience these more serious complications of an injury. It can also ensure that any hidden injuries are discovered so that they can be treated.As discussed above, when you are in a traumatic or stressful situation, your body will produce a surge of the hormone adrenaline. While this extra boost of adrenaline can help you act quickly in a dangerous situation, it can also mask pain and other symptoms of an injury. You might think that you’re fine after an accident – only to feel terrible within a few hours or days.

In addition, some injuries simply are not immediately obvious. Internal bleeding, internal organ damage, soft tissue injuries like sprains or strains, and concussions are all examples of injuries that may not have symptoms right away. If these injuries aren’t diagnosed and treated, they can become far worse.

If you are able to do so, you should go to an emergency room, urgent care, or the doctor’s office after a New York car accident. If an ambulance responds to the accident scene, you should allow the paramedics to perform a preliminary evaluation of any potential injuries. If they recommend that you ride with them to the hospital or to see a doctor on your own, you should follow that advice.

Protecting Your Health and Your Legal Claim

Protecting your own health is the most important reason to go to the hospital after a car accident (even if you don’t think that you were badly hurt). However, it is also critical to seek out medical care to protect your legal rights. Failing to seek medical treatment can become a legal issue when filing a claim. 

You may be asking yourself, “Why is it the insurance company’s business whether or not I went to the doctor?” but the unfortunate reality is that the insurance company will generally assume that you weren’t hurt if you did not seek medical attention after the crash. Insurers evaluate each claim based on a certain set of criteria, one of them being initial medical treatment, so it is possible that you could have a difficult time recovering the level of compensation that you deserve if you waited too long to see a doctor; however, you may have an easier time if you are represented by a Long Island personal injury lawyer.

Getting immediate medical care helps to establish a direct link between your injuries and the motor vehicle accident. If you intend to file an insurance claim for compensation for your losses, then you should go to the hospital. Otherwise, the insurance company may use your failure to do so as a reason to deny or minimize your claim.

Insurance companies use a variety of tactics to avoid paying a fair settlement for motor vehicle accidents. This may include arguing that:

• Something else caused your injuries;
• You must be exaggerating the extent of your injuries because they weren’t serious enough for you to go to the hospital immediately;
• It is your fault that your injuries worsened or required more extensive treatment because you waited to get medical care.

For example, consider a situation where you developed neck pain after being rear-ended – a common sign of whiplash. However, you didn’t see a doctor right away, because you didn’t have any symptoms until a few days after an accident. Then your life got busy, and you waited a few weeks to seek medical treatment because you were hoping it would resolve with at-home measures. 

The insurance company may argue that there is no way to prove that your whiplash injuries were caused by the crash because you didn’t see a doctor for several weeks after the accident. They may even claim that your symptoms must have been caused by something else or that you are lying about your pain to get a settlement.

While insurance companies will always try to get away with a lowball settlement, you can take steps to reduce their ability to do so. This includes going to the hospital if you are in a car accident, even if you don’t think that you are hurt, and even if you think that your injuries aren’t that serious.  Your Long Island car accident lawyer can then use these medical records to establish a link between the crash and your injuries – and fight for your right to full compensation.

Hurt in an Accident? Call The Odierno Law Firm Today.

It isn’t easy to know what to do after a motor vehicle accident. While there is no hard and fast rule about when to go to the hospital, it is usually a good idea to see a doctor after being involved in any type of collision. Getting medical care will help you get the right diagnosis and treatment for your injuries, and will protect your legal rights if you decide to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.

From our offices in Melville, New York, the personal injury lawyers of The Odierno Law Firm help accident victims get the compensation that they deserve for their injuries. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to talk to a Long Island car accident lawyer,  give us a call at 631-994-3043 or fill out our online contact form.