North Carolina Burn Injury Lawyer

Burn Injury Attorney

Burns range from minor medical issues to life-threatening emergencies. If you or your loved one has sustained a burn injury because of someone else’s negligence, you should work with an attorney who has extensive knowledge of the subject, so that they can better assist you with getting maximum compensation for your damages. At Tatum & Atkinson PLLC, we understand what you’re going through, and have successfully helped win cases like yours and would love to help you. We take all our cases on a contingency fee basis so you pay us nothing unless we get you paid!

Burn injuries are some of the most devastating injuries that one can experience. It can take months, even years to heal. Besides receiving necessary medical care, the most important thing to do is to take legal action via a personal injury lawsuit to make sure that the accident does not also impact you financially.

Because the insurance companies won’t generally admit responsibility, the best way to meet that goal is to hire an experienced North Carolina burn injury attorney to help hold them accountable. Your Tatum & Atkinson lawyer can negotiate with the insurance companies to try to get the best outcome possible. As with medical attention, the sooner you act, the better.

Regardless of how you got your burn injury, your legal team will assist you with investigative duties and evidence gathering for your benefit. If your burn injuries were caused by a fire, and the prosecutor’s office or the insurance company looks into the cause, don’t assume that they will actually find the cause or origin of the fire, or that their actions contribute to your case—these are totally separate investigations.

The prosecutor wants to find out whether a party has committed a crime; the insurance company’s objective is to minimize the payment of the loss. Although they have different goals, they could come to the same conclusion, such as the realization that a heater was the cause of a fire.

However, this is not helpful to a plaintiff’s case because it doesn’t prove negligence. A knowledgeable burn injury attorney will work on the plaintiff’s behalf and in this scenario, could consult with a lab, examine the heater, and look for a connection between another party’s negligence (for example, a property owner for failing to install smoke alarms), if possible.

For a fire or an explosion that involves motor vehicles or trucks, the vehicles should be preserved and studied, and various types of forensic engineers can be consulted and retained. Attorneys have the resources to handle these significant details that are needed to help make your case.

A lawyer is helpful when it comes to filing a wrongful death claim if an individual lost their life as a result of a burn/fire injuryu. North Carolina law allows many kinds of compensation for family members who lose their loved one due to their burn injuries, including the following:

• Burial and funeral costs
• Loss of the deceased relative’s care, companionship, and protection
• Loss of the deceased relative’s income (both present and future)
• Medical expenses incurred before the burn victim’s death

Out of the 3,240 fire and smoke inhalation-related deaths that occur in the U.S. annually, the American Burn Association reports that:

• 2,855 occur in residential fires
• 300 occur in motor vehicle crash fires

You can experience a burn anywhere, but there are places where it is more likely to happen, including mostly at home and on the job. Other experiences are truck accidents, motor vehicle accidents, but burns can be caused anywhere a flammable or hot object exists.

Recovery from a burn is a complex process because of the very nature of the wounds. These are some of the most painful injuries that happen to the body because it involves more than just the surface area of the skin; nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and bones are also affected. Additionally, body temperature, immunity, and physical appearance are impacted, not to mention the psychological toll that it can take.

Chemical

• Source: Exposure to acids or bases and can occur with or without heat. Chemical burns can happen at work, home, or on someone else’s property.
• Frequency: Chemical burns from corrosive substances make up nearly 5% of all burns.

Electrical

• Source: Lightning, electrical device short circuits, touching a live wire.
• Injury: Can shock the brain, strain the heart, and damage other organs, fractured or dislocated bones, nerve damage, kidney failure, damage to the blood vessels, seizures, and heart attacks. In addition to the source of electricity, there are factors that determine the extent of injuries, including voltage, resistance, current, and the pathway that the electricity takes.

Friction

• Source: Skin rubbing against a surface.
• Injury: Rug burn, carpet burn, rope burn creates large areas of raw skin with nerves exposed, leaving skin open to infection.
• Road rash describes friction burns for motorcycle riders. When a motorcycle rider falls off their bike, they may slide across the road for a long distance; this sliding can rip off layers of skin similar to a cheese-grater.

Inhalation

• Source: Inhalation of vapors, smoke, harmful gases, and particulate matter contained in smoke.
• Common indicators: Fainting, evidence of respiratory compromise or airway construction, soot present around the nose and mouth, singed nasal hairs, eyelashes and eyebrows, neck, or facial burns.

Radiation

• Source: Radio frequency energy, ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation and microwave energy. Fluoroscopy and other medical procedures. Radiation burns are often accompanied by thermal burns, which are linked to radiation therapy (common treatment for cancer).

Thermal

• Source: Exposure to extreme heat (above 115 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Types: Flash: Results from the heat of an explosive blast. Flame: Contact with flame or fire. Scald: Contact with hot liquids.

If you’ve suffered from burn injuries, you’re entitled to receive compensation from the negligent party. Don’t go at it alone and get nothing or not as much as your case is worth. Get help from North Carolina burn injury law firm Tatum & Atkinson. We know how to win your case and have been helping North Carolina burn victims for decades. Contact us today for a free consultation to get started.