As per the U.S. Centers for disease control and prevention, about 1.7 million Americans suffer traumatic brain injuries annually. Most of those injuries are suffered in falls and motor vehicle crashes. Approximately 275,000 of those victims are hospitalized, and another 52,000 die from their injuries. In any car accident in or around Phoenix, victims can suffer serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). These can range from anything from a mild concussion to severe and permanent brain damage.
How TBIs occur in Motor Vehicle Crashes
In a motor vehicle crash, TBIs can occur in a variety of ways. Here are just a few of them:
- The head either striking or being struck by an object.
- When an object pierces the skull and brain tissue.
- When bone pierces the brain tissue.
- By a sudden acceleration and deceleration injury when there is no trauma to the head, but the brain slams back and forth against the skull.
- A diffuse axonal injury when tears occur in brain tissue and nerves from the brain being twisted inside of the skull.
Symptoms of TBIs
TBI symptoms can manifest themselves immediately, or they might not even be noticed until weeks after an accident. If you suffer any of the following symptoms immediately or sometime after an accident, you’ll want to be medically evaluated right away:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Headaches.
- Dizziness and nausea.
- Blurred or fuzzy vision.
- Ringing in the ears.
- Confusion or memory loss.
- Communication difficulty
The brain doesn’t heal itself, so there is nothing that can be done to reduce the damage of a brain injury, but further damage might be prevented. Here is the generally accepted procedure that is used when medical personnel are dealing with a brain injury:
- Stabilize the patient.
- Diagnose the nature and extent of the brain injury.
- Perform radiological studies on the victim.
- Treat the injury. This might involve anything from physical, occupational or speech therapy to psychiatric treatment.
The sooner that a TBI victim is diagnosed and begins treating, the more effective treatment is likely to be. Treatment for a serious TBI is going to be costly, and care might be needed for a lifetime. Those are two of the reasons why TBI victims seek compensation for their injuries. If you or a family member suffered a TBI as a result of the carelessness and negligence of somebody else in or around Mesa, contact our professional brain injury lawyers in phoenix to arrange for a free consultation and case review. You’ll have our fullest attention. We’ll answer your questions too. Then, we’ll give you our recommendations from all of your legal options.