You were strolling through the convenience store without a care in the world. Suddenly, your carefree day turned into a day at the nearest hospital. You slipped and fell hard to the floor, which resulted in several injuries ranging from minor to major in severity. Did you take the right steps after the slip and fall incident?
The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) reports that slip and fall incidents lead to more than one million visits each year to emergency rooms in the United States. Injuries resulting from slip and fall incidents include fractured bones, sprained ligaments, and severe brain trauma. Slip and fall incidents can unfold just about anywhere at public venues, with several possible reasons for causing one or more injuries. What steps should you take after a slip and fall incident?
The short answer is not the same steps that you take after a car accident, as a slip and fall lawyer can explain:
Notify A Manager
The first step to take after a slip and fall incident is to notify a manager. Whether you alert management or an employee does it for you, the first step sets the wheels in motion for the other steps. A manager completes an accident report, and then sends a copy to company headquarters. The incident report should include a description of what happened before, during, and after the slip and fall incident. It also should contain the contact information for each witness. The incident report is one of the first documents your personal injury attorney reviews during a free consultation.
Take Photos Of The Scene
Unlike in the aftermath of a car accident, law enforcement personnel do not arrive at the scene of a slip and fall incident to collect evidence. It is up to you to gather the physical evidence you need to build a persuasive case for negligence. Using your Smartphone, capture images of the scene to present to your personal injury lawyer. Photographs, especially images captured of the location where you slipped and fell, represent the most compelling type of physical evidence, according to our friends at Herschensohn Law Firm, PLLC. For example, if you take photos of a slip and fall scene where the business did not place “Wet Floor” signs, your attorney can build a convincing case that demonstrates negligence.
Receive Medical Care
You can rack up costly medical bills after a slip and fall incident. The key to recovering the financial losses is to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Even if you feel healthy enough to remain at the scene to capture images, you should eventually visit with a physician to document the diagnosis and treatment of your injuries. If you wait too long to receive medical care, the venue where you slipped and fell might claim you did not sustain serious enough injuries to justify compensation.
Contact A Personal Injury Lawyer
The venue where you slipped and fell most likely is represented by one or more attorneys who fight back against the filing of a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. This means you should balance the scales of justice by hiring an experienced personal injury attorney. Your attorney interviews witnesses, as well as calculates a reasonable value for compensation. You receive helpful legal advice, such as when to negotiate a settlement and how to handle a deposition before a civil trial. The most important reason to hire a personal injury attorney is to build a persuasive case that the other party committed one or more acts of negligence.