Personal Injury FAQ
What to do after an Auto Accident
What information should I obtain after an accident?
Should I call the police?
When should I contact an attorney?
Should I contact my own insurance company?
Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance company? What if they call me?
Should I go to the doctor
Is there anything special I should tell my doctors?
Do I need to take pictures of the accident scene?
Do I have to take photos right away or can I wait?
What about preserving other evidence besides photos?
Is there anything special I should tell my doctors?
When you are reporting your injury to police, paramedics, hospital staff, and doctors, take extra care to identify specific complaints, and do not omit any complaint you may have, no matter how minor. If something does not feel “right,” your doctor needs to have this information in order to give an informed medical opinion.
Even if you feel it is “no big thing” or not related to your accident, you still should recite all of your complaints. A dry mouth, a light headache, and a little dizziness may be evidence of something more serious. Anything that is out of the ordinary is a symptom and should be reported to assist your doctor in making an informed diagnosis.
For example, a patient who has very slight tingling in the fourth and fifth fingers and a minor crick in the neck may not report the tingling sensation, which could be the sign of major disruption to a cervical disk. If that disk becomes a complete rupture that requires major surgery, it would have been far better to have had the initial medical diagnosis at the time of the accident in order to prove when the onset of the fracture to the outer wall of the disk occurred. Otherwise, the defense will argue that it could just have well occurred picking up a bag of groceries three weeks after the accident. |
