Slip and fall accidents result in more than 8 million visits to hospital emergency rooms annually, of which 5% of those visits sustain fractures. Unfortunately, this happens mostly to the most vulnerable age group, those over 65. In fact, almost one-third of people over 65 will trip or slip and fall every year.

The question most people who fall and hurt themselves is: Should I consult a doctor after a slip and fall in Connecticut?

Except in very minor situations, the answer to that question is a resounding "yes," for a variety of reasons. In the following article, we offer an overview of why it's important to seek medical care after a slip and fall injury.

Even with a wealth of information available to you on the Internet, consulting with an experienced CT slip and fall lawyer is highly advised. Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, can offer advice and give you specific answers to your concerns.

You May Not Realize The Severity of Your Injuries 

Many injuries can occur and the injured party may not feel as though the injury is that serious. However, you may further hurt yourself, and in extreme situations, you even run the risk of permanent disability or even death, if you choose not to see a doctor right away. A proper examination by a doctor can determine whether or not your injuries are serious.

Also, if the fall was painful or unexpected, you can be in shock. Your pain or injuries can be masked by shock and only become apparent when the shock subsides.

The following injuries can be far worse than they appear to be at first:

• Internal wounds, especially head wounds
• Neck and back injuries
• Fractured bones, such as a broken wrist or ankle
• Soft tissue injuries

After a slip and fall, your injuries will usually be very evident, but you won't know if there's anything serious that you should address until a medical exam.

Symptoms of a serious injury that you may not be aware of include:

• Headaches
• Ears ringing
• Dizziness
• Muscle spasms or bruising
• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Dizziness or balance issue

Seeing a doctor is important, even if the slip and fall happened hours or days ago.

Your Legal Right To Compensation

If your slip and fall was the result of negligence, the party responsible for the unsafe environment where you fell is generally liable for your medical care, lost wages, and related losses that you incur if your injuries are severe. Waiting reduces your chances of winning in court unless you can show that your injury was specifically caused by a fall.

If you do not seek medical care in a timely manner after the accident, it can greatly impact your chances of being awarded compensation, as well as your ability to demonstrate that negligence caused your injury.

In contrast, you can establish a clear distinction between your fall and your injuries by going to the doctor right away. Consider the scenario where you slipped on a wet floor and landed on your wrist, suffering a hairline fracture. It is more important to go to the emergency room immediately to have it x-rayed and confirmed as a fracture than to have it looked out the next day.

Typically, an insurance company may reject your claim that their client's negligence caused your fall and injury, especially if you have mild, non-obvious injuries. It will be much easier to prove to an insurance company, a judge, or a jury that the fall was the cause of your injury if you have a medical record attesting to the fact that you were examined right away after the incident.

Basic Elements of a CT Slip and Fall Accident Claim

Duty of Care

Premises liability laws in Connecticut apply to incidents involving slip and falls. This implies that unless you can demonstrate that a company (or property owner) violated their duty of care to you, you cannot obtain compensation. According to state laws, all establishments and property owners have a general duty of care to all clients and visitors. This indicates that the "duty of care" component is typically simple to establish. However, a victim may not be able to file a lawsuit if they were trespassing or otherwise explicitly uninvited at the time of the slip and fall incident.

Property Conditions

You must demonstrate that the other party did something wrong and that their wrongful conduct led to your injuries in order to obtain compensation. To put it another way, you must demonstrate in a slip and fall case that the property had a dangerous condition that was both present without reasonable cause and directly contributed to your injury. Just because you stumbled over your own two feet will not allow you to sue a property owner. The following are a few instances of hazardous property conditions that regularly cause slip and fall incidents:

• loose cords or other clutter in walkways
• wet floors without warning signs
• poor lighting
• uneven or damaged flooring
• broken staircases
• unmaintained outdoor walkways

Informative Notification

Property owners in Connecticut are normally only liable for slip and fall accidents if they had a reasonable opportunity to fix or prevent a safety issue. This implies that the landowner was aware of the unjustifiable danger. To be clear, a victim must demonstrate that the owner of the property either knew about the safety issue or reasonably should have known about it. Ignorance is not an acceptable defense. To safeguard the safety of their property, property owners must take proactive actions to make their property safe.

Damages

Finally, you must have actual damages in order to be awarded compensation in a slip and fall accident lawsuit. In general, you can only receive compensation if you can actually substantiate your losses. In order to guarantee that the full extent of their damages are accurately documented so that the accountable property owner or insurance company pays out a full and fair settlement offer, victims should work with an experienced personal injury attorney.

Need a CT Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer?

Employing a skilled Connecticut slip and fall injury lawyer can make all the difference in how your case turns out. In the event that you suffered serious injuries or were hurt following a slip and fall accident on private or public property, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer about your legal options. With legal representation, your attorney will represent you in all correspondences with the insurance provider and work toward a fair settlement.

The team at Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, have helped thousands of slip and fall accident victims receive fair compensation for their losses.

Contact us today to discuss your case. We can help turn this setback into a positive comeback.