The Benefits of Emergency Medical Professionals and Taking an Ambulance to the Hospital After a Car Accident
Bay News 9 recently reported that a Pinellas County crash survivor was able to meet the EMTs who saved his life. Last May, the then-22-year-old was driving his motorcycle through an intersection when a car hit him after running a red light. Thankfully, paramedics were able to arrive within minutes and begin life-saving measures. After undergoing weeks of treatment at the hospital following the accident and months of rehab afterward, the young man had to learn to do everything again, including actions we all take for granted such as walking and talking. In a positive turn of events, the young man was able to demonstrate his progress to those who helped him that fateful day in celebration of National EMS Week.
Why Should I Obtain Medical Help at the Scene of the Accident?
It is routine procedure for an ambulance with emergency medical professionals to be sent to the scene of a car accident. However, every driver does not take advantage of this benefit. It might seem more convenient to decline a medical assessment if you are not experiencing pain or obvious injuries. However, it is important to understand that symptoms of injuries incurred are not always immediately apparent. Some injuries take time to manifest in a detectable way and others can simply be masked by your heightened adrenaline at the scene of the accident.
Further, riding in an ambulance is often associated with a significant cost and it may seem cheaper to drive to the hospital, especially if your injuries do not seem severe. Unfortunately, declining the ambulance ride if you have been injured can affect your personal injury claim later on as driving yourself instead can provide the insurance company with an argument that your injuries are not severe since you were able to drive immediately afterward.
Additionally, you can cause your injuries including those that you can’t see – such as traumatic head injuries and internal bleeding – to worsen by inadvertently applying additional pressure and stress to your injuries while driving en route to the hospital. In an ambulance, you have trained medical professionals to monitor your injuries and step in if they suddenly worsen.
Is There Any Potential Downside to Riding in an Ambulance?
Yes. While it’s something that none of us think about when contemplating whether to ride in an ambulance, ambulances are motor vehicles – and they get into accidents too.
Unfortunately, a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that there were an annual estimated mean of 4,500 motor vehicle traffic crashes involving an ambulance during one twenty year period. Thirty-four percent of these accidents resulted in injuries and even more tragically, there were an annual mean of 29 fatal ambulance crashes and 33 fatalities.
However, the car accident risks associated with ambulances will almost always be outweighed by the many benefits, especially after you have already incurred injuries and you need to obtain medical help as quickly as possible.
Do I Need to Hire an Attorney After a Car Accident?
Regardless of whether you rode in an ambulance after a car accident in which you were injured, you probably need to obtain competent legal help. Being injured in a car accident and understanding what to do afterward is often an intimidating and frustrating process, especially for accident victims who are already dealing with multiple sources of stress related to unanticipated injuries. This is one of the best reasons to allow someone else to help you – an experienced personal injury attorney can focus on your case while you focus on yourself and your family. You can depend on the experienced South Florida car accident attorneys at Leifer & Ramirez to step up and provide the legal help you need. Contact us today to begin.
Resource:
baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/05/22/pinellas-crash-survivor-meets-emts-who-saved-his-life
https://www.leiferlaw.com/the-potential-consequences-of-school-bus-and-school-zone-accidents/
