By Subhasree Nag
Traumatic brain injuries like concussions are often suffered by those involved in a car accident. Recovery from these complicated injuries is long and varied.
If you have suffered a concussion after a Las Vegas accident, you may be entitled to monetary compensation from the party who caused the accident.
Understanding Concussions
Concussions are traumatic brain injuries that result from a sudden jolt or blow to the head. With the sudden movement, your brain can bounce or twist inside your skull, resulting in brain damage and chemical changes.
If you have been in a car accident, pay attention to concussion symptoms. While some symptoms are often obvious shortly after an accident, others may take hours or days to show up.
Symptoms of concussions tend to vary by person. However, they can include stunned or dazed looks, confusion, amnesia, forgetfulness, difficulty focusing, temporary loss of consciousness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and more. Some symptoms indicate a more serious brain injury and require urgent medical care.
They include having one pupil that is bigger than the other, experiencing drowsiness, dealing with seizures, and experiencing constant nausea or vomiting.
After an accident, seek immediate medical attention. Your attorney will recommend seeing a doctor to ensure you get a timely diagnosis and treatment. In addition, seeking medical attention right after a collision shows the seriousness of your injury and offers medical documentation.
Diagnosing A Concussion
When you seek emergency medical services, a healthcare provider will assess your behavior and symptoms, examine your medical history, and perform a neurological exam. Also, the doctor may order imaging tests to confirm your specific injury.
They may check your hearing, vision, reflexes, coordination, strength, concentration, balance, recall, and memory to rule out or diagnose a concussion or another traumatic brain injury.
In addition, the doctor may order an MRI, X-ray, and CT scan, depending on your injury and the neurological exam results.
Effects of a Concussion on Your Las Vegas Accident Claim
Concussions have specific impacts on every victim; however, they generally result in short- and long-term complications with your language, thinking, sensation, and emotion. For many people, such impacts will disappear within days or weeks.
However, they may leave victims unable to drive, work, go to school, or care for their kids during this time. Other sufferers may deal with longer-term challenges that greatly affect their careers, hobbies, quality of life, and family relationships.
Over time, repeated concussions can lead to cumulative issues with cognition and brain function. They can be deadly.
Discuss how a concussion will affect you with your medical team and attorney. Your attorney must fully understand the impact of a concussion on your life to offer the best representation.
Concussions In Car Accidents
Concussions mostly happen in car accidents when there is a sudden forceful impact because of the collision. During an accident, the sudden change in direction and speed often causes the victim’s head to move abruptly.
The violent motion causes brain collision with the interiors of the skulls, which results in concussion.
Some of the common scenarios that cause concussions in car accidents are:
Whiplash
When a vehicle makes a sudden top or is hit from behind, the victim’s head often goes back and forth, striking the brain with the insides of the skull. The sudden deceleration or acceleration leads to concussion.
Direct Impact
When a person’s head directly hits the side window, steering wheel, dashboard, or any other parts of the car during an accident, the force can cause concussion.
If this is what happens, then the compensation amount is higher than the general because there is clear proof of blunt trauma force.
Rotational Forces
When a vehicle is impacted from the side, or if it was involved in a rollover, the rotational forces during the collision often cause the brain to twist inside the skull. This is one of the major causes of concussions as the amount of force is natural to cause injuries and concussions.
Your Options Following A Concussion
Once you have received medical treatment and filed a police report, contact an attorney for advice and guidance. If necessary, a lawyer can meet with you while you are still at the hospital.
They can represent you during talks with insurers as you file a claim to seek compensation for your medical expenses, vehicle damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Your attorney will collect evidence for you to prove liability for the crash. This includes medical records about the seriousness and extent of your concussion. Your attorney may encourage you to keep a daily journal of the impact of the injury on your life and capacity to work.
This journal can offer documentation of your suffering, which is necessary to strengthen your car accident claim. Also, your attorney can negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company. If negotiations fail, they can take your case to court and work to get you a favorable verdict.
Time Limits For Concussion Claims
If you are suffering from a concussion and injury because of a Las Vegas accident and it is caused because of someone’s negligence, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to claim compensation.
The time limits for personal injury claims depend on the type of injury, and how you suffered it or where you were when the injury happened.
For instance, if the accident happened when you were at work, you have to let your employer know about the injury as soon as possible. You have to file the claim to WorkCover within six months of the incident.
Speak to your personal injury lawyers and know the exact time limits for your concussion compensation claims so you can know for sure where you stand and the amount you can claim from your employer if that happened because of their negligence.
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