Serious vehicle crashes can cause traumatic injuries to multiple parts of the body. People who suffer these types of injuries in crashes are often airlifted to Level 1 trauma centers that have the medical personnel and equipment to provide the necessary care to stabilize catastrophically injured people.
If these injuries aren’t fatal, they can necessitate long-term treatment and rehabilitation and still affect a crash victim for the rest of their life. Let’s take a brief look at two types of traumatic injuries.
Orthopedic trauma
This refers to both the cause and the type of injury. Orthopedic trauma typically involves injuries to the musculoskeletal system. That system includes our muscles, bones, joints, ligaments and parts of our body that let it move in all the ways it’s intended to.
This type of injury is caused by some type of sudden, violent external force on the body. It can result in multiple serious fractures, amputations, torn muscles and more. Certainly, a car crash would qualify as that. So would a fall from a height or even a violent assault.
Complex polytrauma
Someone can suffer this in addition to orthopedic trauma. Complex polytrauma involves more than one type of serious injury over multiple parts of the body. For example, a person may suffer multiple broken bones and torn ligaments as well as serious burns in a crash or other catastrophic event.
Determining long-term care and other expenses before accepting a settlement
Victims are more likely to survive multiple, traumatic injuries than they were in the past. However, the treatment required is costly. Multiple surgeries may be just the start. They may need physical and occupational therapy, require modifications to their home and be unable to work for an extended period.
It can be tempting to accept what looks like a good settlement from an at-fault party’s insurer when victims and families start seeing costs mounting. However, you need to ensure that you’re getting enough to cover long-term costs and damages. Settling too soon can limit or prohibit you from seeking more later. It’s wise to get experienced legal guidance as soon as possible to protect your right to fair compensation.