Burn Injury Attorney in West Tampa

Lots of people get burned in West Tampa, FL, but the majority of those burns come from lying on a beach all day without enough sunscreen. That is the kind of burn you expect to get in West Tampa. However, sometimes people get burned in much worse ways.

You might have scalding hot coffee spilled on you by a careless waiter. Or a distracted hair salon worker might burn you with a curling iron. When this type of carelessness or negligence happens, you could end up with second or third-degree burns. These are much worse than a simple sunburn and require a visit to a West Tampa emergency room.

But how will you pay for that visit? And how will you pay for future treatment that second and third-degree burns require? Even if you have health insurance, that is still money out of your pocket in the form of a deductible and possible co-payments. It is also potentially lost time and work days, depending on how severe the burn is.

This is money that you can’t afford to spend or lose. At Morgan & Morgan, we understand that. Our West Tampa, FL, burn injury lawyers are available 24 hours a day to help you recover after a serious burn injury. If you’ve suffered a burn injury in West Tampa, contact us today to get a free, immediate case evaluation.

When You Need West Tampa, FL, Burn Injury Lawyers

Almost everyone has been burned accidentally at one point or another. Maybe you were careless and touched a hot pan without an oven mitt or didn’t realize that a hot iron was left on. These burns are unfortunate but can easily be treated with cold water, antibiotic cream, and a bandage. Usually, there is no one to blame but yourself for these burns.

However, sometimes a burn isn’t your fault. When another person’s carelessness or negligence results in you getting burned, they are responsible for paying for your recovery. There are a few major ways that another party can be responsible for a burn suffered in West Tampa, FL.

Unsafe Practices

Businesses are supposed to create a safe environment for all patrons and employees. But not all business owners or managers follow safety rules. In certain types of businesses, this can result in people getting burned.

Employees are usually the people most in danger, especially if they work with equipment that can get hot. If proper safeguards aren’t being followed, employees risk getting burned at the following workplaces:

• Restaurants or bars
• Dry cleaners
• Auto repair shops
• Construction sites
• Laboratories

If unsafe business practices caused you to get burned on the job, West Tampa, FL, burn injury lawyers from Morgan and Morgan can help you recover damages from your employer. Companies are responsible for your safety while on the job. If they fail in that responsibility, you deserve compensation.

Customers and visitors also have equal rights to be safe when entering an establishment. Unsafe practices are less likely to result in a customer getting burned, but they can. For example, if a drink dispenser doesn’t have a warning that the contents are hot, you could get burned when you unknowingly drink from it.

Unsafe Products

Just because you burned yourself in your home, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is your fault. Sometimes a burn isn’t the result of carelessness but rather of an unsafe product.

For example, imagine you own an iron that is supposed to heat up only when turned on. If you plugged it in but didn’t turn it on, you would reasonably expect it to stay cool. If instead it had a product defect and heated up anyway, you could end up getting burned. 

That burn and any subsequent treatment would be the responsibility of the company that manufactured the iron.

There are countless ways you could be burned due to a defective or unsafe product. Even the sunburn you got while lying on a beautiful West Tampa beach could be the result of defective sunscreen, assuming you used it properly. 

Burns from unsafe or defective products are just as painful and debilitating as burns from unsafe practices. You deserve compensation. West Tampa, FL, burn injury lawyers from Morgan & Morgan will help you get the compensation you deserve.

Burns and Medical Treatment

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are three degrees of burns.

The least severe type of burn is a first-degree burn. This affects only the outer layer of the skin. It hurts and causes redness but doesn’t meaningfully endanger the victim.

A second-degree burn goes deeper. It will usually swell and blister and may eventually turn into a scar. Usually, second-degree burns aren’t life-threatening, but untreated blisters can get infected, leading to much more severe problems.

Third-degree burns are the most dangerous and should always receive immediate medical attention. This type of burn reaches deep below the skin and may injure fat, soft tissue, or even organs. The burns are usually black, white, or brown, indicating that the skin has been charred away.

Third-degree burns require both immediate treatment and long-term treatment. Usually, a doctor will graft skin from another part of your body to replace the skin destroyed by fire. The risk of infection with third-degree burns is very high, and untreated burns can potentially be fatal.

If you have been seriously burned due to the negligence of another, you will likely need months or even years of treatment. This could cost upwards of millions of dollars, depending on how severe the injuries are. 

You can’t possibly afford that alone. Burn injury lawyers from Morgan & Morgan will help you get all the money you need to recover from this devastating and traumatic injury.