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The San Bernardino brain injury lawyers at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo know just how difficult a brain injury is for the victim and for the family and friends of the victim. They have seen it over their thirty-plus years of experience and they have taken special pride in winning those cases. Brain injuries are some of the most complex injuries. That is why it is so important for you to hire our traumatic brain injury lawyers in San Bernardino. Send us a message to get started.
Getting complete and timely help from doctors, nurses, and paramedics is very critical for brain injuries to help you reach Maximum Medical Improvement as quickly as it is possible. We know that brain injuries are unsettling, and you are probably concerned about how you are going to be able to pay for ongoing treatment for your brain injury. You might also be worried about how to support your family and loved ones right now and possibly in the future. We understand these concerns, and we can help you. Our focus for you is winning your case and maximizing your possible compensation while walking side-by-side with you throughout the trial.
Our San Bernardino work injury lawyers can start helping you today. Call us 24 hours a day at (909) 436-4610. Keep in mind that we work on a contingency basis so you won’t owe us anything until and unless we win your case. Our team helps individuals with workers’ compensation claims and third-party lawsuits against at-fault parties. These claims can become incredibly challenging, and having a lawyer by your side can provide Peace of Mind. An attorney will fully investigate every aspect of your claim, handle the communication with other parties involved, and work through any appeals process or third-party civil personal injury lawsuit on your behalf.
The terms brain injury and traumatic brain injury are general terms that include many types of injuries to the brain and its surrounding. Head injuries, though, refer to all injuries to anywhere in or around the head so a brain injury can be considered a head injury but not always vice versa. According to the Mayo Clinic, traumatic brain injuries are typically caused by a “violent blow or jolt to the head or body.” These injuries can also be caused by penetration of the skull, often as a result of the shattering of the skull or a bullet.
We also want to clarify that concussions are actually considered mild traumatic brain injuries. Individuals are likely to make a full recovery after a concussion if they follow the doctor’s treatment instructions.
Brain injuries can be split up into internal and external causes.
External brain injuries happen due to outside forces affecting the brain, including blast waves, suddenly stopping or suddenly speeding up, an impact because of a flying or falling object, or from an object penetrating the skull and then penetrating the brain.
The internal types of brain injuries include toxins, infection, strokes, heart attacks, cancer, and hemorrhaging.
Brain injuries and brain damage have a lot of causes, but the following is just a list of a few of the most common and traumatic causes:
The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation has claimed that automobile accidents and being struck by an object account for about twenty percent of brain injuries each, people tripping and falling account for twenty-eight percent of brain injuries, and non-motorized bicycle accidents and violence make up a combined fifteen percent of the total. Brain damage can happen or be caused by a wide variety of problems, including an aneurysm, a lack of oxygen, neurological illness, poisons, chemotherapy, most of the brain injuries listed above, or by infection.
The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to evaluate and communicate the severity of brain injuries and the level of consciousness of a person with a brain injury. The score is determined mainly by motor, verbal, and the patient’s eyes’ reactions to stimulation. A score of three to eight on the Glasgow Coma Scale indicates severe brain injury; a score of nine to twelve indicates moderate brain injury, and a score of thirteen to fifteen indicates mild brain injury. Other scales exist, like the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) and the Coma/Near Coma Scale (CNC).
All injuries to the spine, brain, and head are taken seriously and require immediate medical attention no matter what the severity happens to be. The following is just a summarized list of signs that could indicate the patient has suffered a severe brain injury: dilation of both or just one pupil, convulsions, slurred speech, tired eyes, a headache that lingers, aphasia, loss of coordination, confusion, lightheadedness, weak or numb extremities, agitation, unequal pupil size, irritability, listlessness, and/or vomiting/nausea.
Comas are one possible result of brain injuries. A patient who has a coma is not sleeping (and the brain waves do not look like someone’s when they are sleeping), but rather they are in a very deep state of unconsciousness. In a coma, a person cannot respond to stimulation, even if it is very “aggressive” stimulation. After a coma, a person’s condition can vary widely. Some people recover all their cognitive and physical functions along with their full memory. Other patients are not so lucky and come out of it to be in a vegetative state which could last a long time. Additionally, they could wake to be lethargic, in a stupor, or be in a state where they only recover basic body functions.
Locked-In Syndrome can be quite serious as a person cannot do anything but move their eyes and blink. Shaken Baby Syndrome could be the result of Diffuse Axonal Injuries where shaking or moving the head very quickly has caused the baby’s brain to be damaged. Second Impact Syndrome is when a second brain injury has occurred before the healing process has finished for the first brain injury. This syndrome is possible for concussion victims as it can take many months to over a year for the brain to fully heal from a concussion.
The initial set of treatments and procedures that first medical responders will do for a brain injury victim are meant to stabilize their injuries and then get the person ready for transport or further procedures. These goals include stopping the bleeding, stabilizing the neck, spine, and head, removing big blood clots, controlling the internal pressure in the skull, and allowing/encouraging the right amount of blood flow to reach the brain. Once those priorities are adequately accomplished, additional treatments for brain injuries include restricting the overall fluid intake, using anticonvulsants to try to help prevent seizures from occurring, using diuretics to attempt to control the amount of water in the body, and using a ventricular drain and ventricular to assist the patient to breathe while being able to drain fluids as needed.
Brain surgeons might be called in to do the following surgeries on brain injury patients. The first type of brain surgery is called craniotomy. This is where the brain surgeon makes an opening in the skull to try and resolve the issues that are causing the pressure to increase (including blood clots and swollen brain tissues). A bone flap removal brain surgery is another technique surgeons can do to relieve internal pressure. The third type of brain surgery is Burr holes. The purpose of it is to remove blood clots.
Brain injuries happen to people very quickly and, many times, very traumatically. It happens at work as most jobs in California involve something on this risk factor list: working with or around big construction, farm or factory equipment, electricity, motorcycles, heavy objects, cars, trucks, conveyor belts, tractors, mine equipment, and chemicals.
If you sustain a brain injury at work, you need to report the incident as soon as possible to a supervisor or your employer. You should seek medical care right away. Individuals who sustain on-the-job brain injuries should be able to recover compensation for their medical bills and a portion of their lost wages. The workers’ compensation benefits in this state will cover all medical bills related to a workplace injury and two-thirds of a person’s average weekly wage if they are unable to work as a result of the incident.
If a person sustains a short or long-term disability as a result of the brain injury, they may be able to recover long-term benefits through the workers’ compensation system.
We are ready to help. We believe that traumatic brain injury cases are especially complex, and we believe you need brain injury lawyers with a proven track record and a vast amount of experience. We offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation to all potential clients so you can get your questions answered and learn more about what your case might look like going forward. Our law firm has a strict no upfront fees policy. This means that we will not charge you for our time and services unless and until we win your case.
A San Bernardino traumatic brain injury attorney from DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo will come to your house or hospital room if you are unable to come to our office. We are available to meet during the normal hours of Monday through Friday between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm. Our personal injury attorneys in San Bernardino will also meet you, by appointment, on Saturdays, Sundays, and in the evening. Contact us today by filling out our online form, or call us at (909) 436-4610 for your free consultation.