Our world practically revolves around electricity. It lights our homes, powers our tablets and computers, and even fuels the stoplights that help us travel safely from one place to the next. Unfortunately, this powerful tool is also extremely dangerous. Even minimal contact can lead to burn injuries. In severe cases, those injuries can cause death. Our Virginia personal injury law firm shares more about electrical burns caused by defective products, including how to determine if you may be owed compensation, below.
Causes of Electrical Burns
Electrical burns can be caused in many ways, but those that are related to defective products typically occur at home, or at work. A homemaker can turn on their dryer and experience an electrical burn. A worker in the manufacturing industry can go to use the same equipment they have used for years but then it can malfunction. In all truth, the possibilities are endless, and they are within your home, at your job, and in your everyday life.
Types of Electrical Burns
Electricity can result in one of two types of burns: direct contact burns and arc burns. Direct contact burns can include touching a surface that has been heated by electricity, something that has been ignited by electricity, or by coming into direct contact with electricity itself. Arc burns are caused when electricity travels, or arcs, through the air or in a gap between conductors. Both can result in serious and potentially fatal injuries.
Knowing When to Seek Treatment
While some electrical burns may be non-emergent, all should be examined by a healthcare professional. This is because, unlike regular burns, electrical burns occur to the inside of the body as well as the outside. They can cause heart damage and damage to the internal organs. In short, the injury could be far more severe than it looks. Treatment also establishes documentation of the injury. In situations where compensation may be owed, this can be crucial to the outcome of your case. So, even if the injury seems minor, seek emergency medical care.
Are You Entitled to Compensation?
Though not every electrical burn may open an opportunity for compensation, every case should be evaluated by an experienced personal injury lawyer. There may be factors at play that the victim did not see, or could not have known. With help from a Virginia personal injury attorney, they can gain access to the more intricate details of their injury and see how they align with the compensation laws.
Contact a Virginia Personal Injury Attorney Today
The success of your personal injury lawsuit depends in part on your attorney’s ability to paint a convincing picture of the “reasonable person” that shows how careless the other party’s actions or behavior were. Make sure you have a skilled Hampton, VA personal injury attorney advocating for you.
Call Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp to schedule a free consultation. We will evaluate your case and determine what your legal options may be. Our legal team has successfully represented many accident victims, including a $525,000 personal injury insurance settlement for one client who suffered disabling electric shock injuries while standing on a privately owned boat dock.
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