Should I Go to the Hospital After a Car Accident?

If you've recently been injured in a car accident, you may be curious about whether or not a hospital visit is warranted.

Generally, it is highly recommended that you see a physician to review your current conditions and to identify whether or not you have serious medical issues. Bear in mind that not every medical issue caused by a car accident is immediately noticeable. Problems like whiplash, concussions, and other traumatic brain injuries don't always show symptoms that are immediately apparent, either to you or to other people at the scene. You may even feel okay immediately after the accident but discover hours later that you are experiencing pain. It is good to establish medical care and to rule out any serious issues by getting immediate medical attention. 

A doctor can conduct testing and diagnostics that can help to reveal potential conditions and can also inform you about how to move forward. 

Following your medical treatment, make sure that you also get the support of an experienced and qualified attorney to help you with the complex situations of a car accident. A dedicated attorney is there to help address many of your concerns and questions and help you to identify what to do next. 

This is another reason for getting immediate medical treatment. If you were injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, It is good to establish medical care for purposes of recovering compensation through your insurance policy or through a lawsuit as well. This is because it can be very hard to establish that you suffered severe injuries if the other side argues that you never received proper medical attention. 

Getting medical attention is not necessarily required to seek compensation; however, the other side may argue that you must not have been that seriously injured if you did not go to the hospital or get other medical care.

If you or a loved one experienced injuries in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, contact Morgan & Morgan for a free, no-obligation case evaluation after seeking your medical treatment. We can help you recover the compensation you deserve and need to cover your medical expenses.

Where Can I Get Medical Attention After an Accident?

After an accident, anyone who is medically qualified will be able to help you. This can include urgent care, your primary care physician, or a doctor at the emergency room. 

Contacting the authorities at the scene of the accident is recommended because you may not fully realize your own injuries, as well as the injuries of others at the scene of the incident. 

Speaking with a dedicated attorney may happen down the road, but firstly, you need someone to identify whether you have serious injuries that could affect your future.

How Should I Choose Between an Emergency Room and Urgent Care?

The experience of going through a car accident is an overwhelming one, and you may be concerned about having to wait for a long time in the emergency room or not having appropriate health insurance. Regardless of which route you choose, getting medical attention right away is extremely important. 

For any serious injury you endure from a car accident, it is important to go to either urgent care or the emergency room. The emergency room is best suited for situations like severe trauma, problems with breathing, severe burns, major broken bones, and other serious injuries. 

If you have lesser symptoms or more minor injuries that can result from a car accident, you can instead go to urgent care. You may be seen more quickly at urgent care and can begin to establish treatment and can have follow-ups with your other physicians. 

Injuries from a car accident can hide under the adrenaline pumping through your body after an accident. It is also possible that you are experiencing shock, which is one reason why it is hard to decide if you should go to the hospital after a car accident. Because you may not realize the full extent of your injuries at this point in time, it is best to hand it over to a medical professional. Visit urgent care or the emergency room even if you don't feel like you have to. Getting medical proof as soon as possible also assists you with filing a personal injury claim.

Are There Differences in Waiting Room Times Between Urgent Care and the Emergency Room?

Most urgent care patients are seen within 15 minutes or less. This means that in general, urgent care facilities are more equipped to treat patients quickly. Emergency rooms are high traffic because they're not only seeing people from car accidents but from many other different types of medical situations. 

It can be hard to predict when and how you will be seen by someone in urgent care or the emergency room. But if you have minor injuries that do not require immediate medical attention, you may be better off going to urgent care. From there, the urgent care doctor can review your situation, conduct diagnostic tests, and help you to determine some of the immediate injuries you may have experienced. 

It can be overwhelming to navigate this process on your own, but starting at urgent care does give you a good option to go forward. Many urgent cares are not open at all hours every day of the week, unlike the emergency room. This is one leading difference between going to urgent care or going to the hospital after a car accident. 

Because car accidents can happen at any point in time, you may be able to get treatment at an emergency room more quickly, even if you have to wait. If the urgent care closes at 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. and you have an accident when the urgent care is not open, you do not want to wait until the next day to get into urgent care if your injuries are severe. You should instead go to the emergency room to get prompt treatment. It is not easy to figure out all of these complex medical issues, and it can also be very frustrating to realize that you may have to miss time at work. 

If you cannot earn a paycheck during this time and are also accumulating medical bills, you will likely have legal questions that should be presented to an experienced personal injury lawyer. A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can review all aspects of your claim and help you to establish proof that you have sustained serious injuries. Even if the other side alleges that you are partially at fault for the accident or that your injuries are not as severe as you claim, having a personal injury attorney in your corner from the outset of your case will make things much easier for you to navigate. Do not hesitate to contact the personal injury attorneys at Morgan & Morgan. We have substantial experience in preparing cases on behalf of victims who have been hurt in critical accidents. 

Once you get medical attention, you will need to continue to attend all medical appointments and to keep up to date about your symptoms and how the accident is affecting your life. This is a crucial component of telling your story in court when we need to file a lawsuit. The support of an injury attorney can make a big difference in the outcome of your case, and you should always be prepared to identify a legal team that has appropriate experience in settling cases outside of court as well as pursuing them in other ways.

What to Do After Your Hospital Visit?

It's likely that you have severe injuries and have just discovered the surface of the problem when you go to the hospital after a car accident. You need to continue to follow up with all of your medical care, including reporting any new symptoms you experience to your doctor and your personal injury attorney. If you were harmed in a vehicle accident caused by another person's negligent or reckless behavior, your personal injury lawyer could help you figure out what to do after you go to the hospital after a car accident. The first hospital visit may be just the beginning of your expenses, as well as your rehabilitation journey, and you must take your future seriously by protecting your legal rights.

If you're facing any type of serious injury and a long road to recovery, the attorneys at Morgan & Morgan can help you to make sense of your personal injury claim. We meet our personal injury victim clients where they are at, working hard to develop a legal strategy with their best interest in mind. 

If you are concerned about the best way to proceed, contact Morgan & Morgan today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. 

Don't let too much time pass you by when you've been hurt; you need to take your case seriously and look into legal options for filing a claim as soon as you can.