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Kentucky Burn Injury Lawyers
Holding individuals and companies accountable when negligence and product defects cause burns
Burn injuries are frightening. Severe burns are extremely painful. Third-degree burns can cause scars and disfigurement. Victims may gasp for their breath. At Crandall & Pera, our trial lawyers represent anyone who suffers burns (thermal, electrical, chemical, or radiation) due to vehicle accidents, construction accidents, product defects, and other causes. Our Kentucky catastrophic injury lawyers have a combined 50 years of experience holding individuals and businesses accountable for their negligence. Our Kentucky burn injury lawyers demand compensation for all your financial and personal damages, including medical care by burn injury centers, plastic surgeons, and other healthcare professionals. We also file wrongful death claims when burns are fatal.
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What are the different types of burn injuries?
The Mayo Clinic states that “burns are tissue damage that results from too much sun, hot liquids, flames, chemicals, electricity, steam, and other sources. Burns can be minor medical problems or life-threatening emergencies.”
Burns are generally classified as follows:
- These burns are due to fires, exposure to steam or hot liquids, and contact with glass, metal, or other materials.
- Electrical burns. These burns are due to exposure to electrical currents. Common sources include power lines, power tools, electrical equipment, high-voltage sources, and other sources.
- Radiation burns. These burns include exposure to ultraviolet radiation (such as from tanning beds or exposure to the sun) and exposure to non-solar radiation, such as X-rays.
- Chemical burns. The sources of chemical burns include exposure through inhaling chemicals and skin contact with strong acids, paint thinner, gasoline, cleaning products, lye, and toxic spills.
Classification of burn injuries
The Mayo Clinic classifies burns, according to their symptoms and depth, as follows:
- First-degree burn (superficial burns). These burns are minor burns that affect only the top layer of skin, the epidermis. Symptoms may include pain and redness. They normally clear up in a short time.
- Second-degree burns (partial-thickness burns).These burns affect the epidermis and the dermis, the second layer of skin. Symptoms include swelling, discolored skin, blisters, and terrible pain. Severe second-degree burns can cause scarring.
- Third-degree burns (full-thickness burns).These burns can penetrate the fat, muscle, and nerves in addition to the layers of skin. Third-degree burns require emergency medical care.
Severe burn patients are usually taken to a burn center, if possible, instead of an emergency room. Kentucky has one burn center located at the University of Louisville Burn Clinic. Severe burns include electrical burns, chemical burns, burns involving certain body parts such as the hands and feet, and those that cover a significant percentage of a victim’s body. When a child has a burn, it is also considered severe.
How do doctors treat burn injury victims in Kentucky?
The treatments depend on the type of burn, the location of the burn, the severity of the burn, the patient’s other health issues, and other factors. Doctors need to be alert to the possible complications, which include infections, loss of fluid, hypothermia (a dangerously low body temperature), difficulty breathing, heart disorders, scars and skin color changes, joint damage, pain, depression, bone damage, and skin cancer.
The treatments include the following:
- Emergency care. Medical providers, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics, help accident victims who have major burns in the following ways:
- Making sure the person is no longer in contact with the source of the burn.
- Performing rescue breathing if necessary.
- Removing any restrictive items.
- Covering the burn, such as with a clean cloth or gauze.
- “Lifting the wound above heart level if possible.”
- Looking for symptoms of shock, such as clammy skin, a weak pulse, or shallow breathing.
- Medical treatments. These may include:
- Water-based treatments, such as whirlpool baths to help remove dead tissue.
- Giving the victim IV fluids to prevent dehydration and organ failure.
- Medications for pain and anxiety.
- Ointments and creams for wound healing.
- Dressings, such as “various specialty wound dressings to prepare the wound to heal. If you're being transferred to a burn center, your wound will likely be covered in dry gauze only.”
- Medications to fight infections, such as IV antibiotics.
- Tetanus shots.
- Surgery and other treatments. For severe burns, victims may need medical care for one or more of the following:
- Breathing assistance, such as the insertion of a tube in your windpipe (trachea) to help air get to your lungs
- A feeding tube for nutritional support
- Easing blood flow around the wound. If a burn scab, also called eschar, goes completely around a limb, it can tighten and cut off blood flow. An eschar that goes completely around the chest can make it hard to breathe. A healthcare professional may cut the eschar to ease this pressure.
- Skin grafts. This procedure uses parts of your own healthy skin to replace the scar tissue caused by deep burns. Other sources (skin from deceased donors or pigs) may be used, if necessary, for a short time.
- Physical and occupational therapy. Exercises can help “stretch the skin so that the joints remain flexible,” and improve coordination and muscle strength. Occupational therapy helps with daily living activities.
- Psychological counseling. Many burn injury victims need numerous sessions to help cope with the emotional trauma of burns, especially if the scarring or disfigurement is visible to others.
Who is responsible for burn injuries in Kentucky?
At Crandall & Pera, we work with investigators, the police, fire officials, and others to determine the cause of your burn injuries and who is responsible. Depending on how burn injuries occur, our Kentucky burn injury lawyers file burn injury claims against:
- The drivers of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles.
- Property owners who may be liable for a fire or severe burns, such as a restaurant.
- Construction companies that may be liable for electrical, chemical, or thermal burns.
- Medical providers who may be liable for radiation burns.
- The manufacturers of defective products.
- Other defendants.
What is the value of my Kentucky burn injury case?
At Crandall & Pera Law, we review the full scope and severity of your burns with your burn doctors, including long-term trauma and life-planning needs. Our Kentucky burn injury lawyers demand compensation for all your current and future:
- Medical bills of every nature.
- Income loss including wages, benefits, business income, and long-term compensation.
- Physical pain and emotional suffering, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Scars and disfigurement, including the inability to function and to enjoy life’s pleasures.
- The loss of consortium (enjoyment of marital relations).
We may also seek punitive damages if the defendant’s conduct was wanton or malicious.
We file wrongful death claims on behalf of families when burn injuries are fatal.
Do you have a Kentucky burn injury lawyer near me?
Crandall & Pera Law represents burn injury victims in our Lexington, Kentucky office located at 201 E Main St., Suite 530. If you cannot travel due to your burns, our lawyers will arrange to see you at your home or another location. We also discuss cases by phone and through online video consultations.
We’re prepared to guide you through this difficult time. Our lawyers have helped many personal injury victims obtain strong recoveries.
Get help from our respected Kentucky burn injury lawyers
For many burn injury victims, the treatment of their physical injuries is just the beginning of a victim’s trauma. Most burn victims suffer long-term emotional trauma. At Crandall & Pera Law, we fight to obtain the compensation you deserve to pay your bills, restart your life, and compensate you for your anguish. Call us or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation.