How Long After an Accident Can You Wait to Get Medical Treatment?

Many people, including health care professionals, believe that even a little delay in receiving medical treatment can have serious long-term consequences for a person who has been injured. In the emergency room at the hospital, after you are stabilized from your injuries, doctors and nurses tell you to get follow-up care as soon as possible to make sure that nothing was missed during the initial assessment and treatment.

You Need to Get Checked Out

At some point after an accident, someone should look at your injuries. If this occurs at a hospital or doctor’s office it may be called an “evaluation.” If it happens at the scene of an accident, it is often called a “screen.” Any delay in receiving medical care will likely cause additional injuries, some of which may be permanent. Even if the accident was clearly not your fault you should seek appropriate medical attention as soon as possible.

If You are Uninsured or Underinsured

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we often do not receive appropriate medical treatment because we don’t have insurance to cover it. If this applies to you then take pictures and try to record all your injuries. You can also ask friends and family for help and support to document your injuries with video recordings, sketches, and notes. This will be important if you need to file an injury claim later on so keep everything organized and filed appropriately until such time as you need it. Just remember, never ignore any type of serious symptom. It is much easier to deal with when the injury is small than it is if it grows or later becomes infected.

Even if you can’t afford to purchase insurance your medical bills should not go ignored. Doctors and hospitals still have a duty to treat you even if you cannot pay them back later on. If this happens call the hospital’s billing department and ask for assistance with paying your bill or if they can trade treatment for community service hours. This may be difficult, but it is better than receiving no treatment at all.

If someone has been injured in an accident, they need to determine how long after an accident one should wait to seek medical care. Even if there are no symptoms that seem obvious at the time, it is still better to get checked than to have an issue that shows up later when it is more serious. To find out more, reach out to us here at Grewer Law today!