Severe burns that lead to disfigurement can occur in many ways. Serious burns can affect you for the rest of your life. They may cause nerve damage, disfigurement, and other severe problems. In some situations, burns are a “side effect” of another accident, such as a car accident, explosion, or electrical malfunction. In any of those situations, it important to talk to a Texas burn injury attorney to determine your legal options. You should also note the following interesting facts and information regarding burns injuries.
1. Burns disproportionately affect children.
In roughly 30 percent of fire-related deaths and injuries, burns are the underlying cause. Burns and fire are especially a problem for children. In fact, fire incidents will cause approximately 500 child deaths every year. It will injure another 40,000 children as well.
It’s critical to keep children away from ovens and stoves. They should also never be allowed to play with things that can cause burn injuries or fires, including lighters or matches.
2. Burn can cause Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD).
In severe fires or explosions, burn victims may develop emotional trauma along with their physical damage. It can take significant time to recover from this type of mental impairment. Treatment often includes therapy, and, in some cases, medication for conditions like anxiety and depression.
3. Burn victims have an increased risk of infection.
Because at least one layer of the skin has been damaged, burn victims are particularly prone to infection. That means that keeping the burn area clean is extremely important to avoid further complications. You may be surprised at just how much this affects the burn victim. For example, in some cases, a hospital will ask you not to bring in flowers to a burn victim because there is an increased risk of exposing the victim to unwanted bacteria on the flowers.
4. Those with burn injuries will need extra care and attention while they heal.
This factor might not be too surprising to you. However, you may not realize the extent of the care that it takes to recover from a severe burn injury. Dressings may need to be changed relatively often, and moving the burned area will be extremely difficult. Treating a burn sometimes means that a medical professional will have to remove additional damaged tissue, which leaves even more underlying tissue exposed. Burns can be very painful, and victims may not be able to function normally for weeks or several months. In serious cases, burn injuries will affect you for the rest of your life.
5. Burn injuries can result from more than just fires.
Although most people assume that there has to be an open flame to result in a burn, that is not necessarily true. While fires are the most common cause of burns, you can also be burned from electrical malfunctions, defective products, very hot liquids that result in scalding, and chemical accidents. Sometimes injuries can result when no fire occurs at all.
If you are burned at work or due to the fault of another person, you may have a legal claim to help with medical care and other costly issues that burns cause. Schedule a consult with the Texas personal injury attorneys at The Tony Nguyen Law Firm to learn more about these unique cases.