What Should I Do After a Slip and Fall?

Hi, I’m Jeff Monzo here for Legal Tip Tuesday at QuatriniRafferty. and I’m in the personal injury department, one of the attorneys in the personal injury department, here at QR. And what I like to talk to you about today as we’re getting closer to the winter season, in the personal injury department, we see more and more slip and fall accidents as we get more towards the winter months. Certainly, that’s due to the ice and snow that accumulates around businesses. What I wanted to do today is tell you five things to do if you or somebody close to you ends up getting hurt in a in a slip and fall accident out in the public.

We see them whether there’s liquid on the floor of a department store, or merchandise that’s come off the aisle at the department store that cause you to trip. We see cases where employees are pushing carts and knock people down. If any of these things occur and you’re injured there are five things that you should think about. The first thing is make sure if you’re in that type of accident, you report that to the to the store, or the restaurant, or the building where you’ve been a guest. Often times they’ll have you fill out an incident report, but most importantly just report to somebody there that has some management authority that it’s happened to you. The other thing you want to do is seek medical attention. Whether you’ve hurt a shoulder because you’re breaking your fall, you smacked your head on the ground, you should seek medical treatment in either an emergency room or an urgent care of some sort.

Even if you don’t think it’s that bad, these types of injuries tend to get sometimes get worse as time goes on and it’s best to get it looked at immediately, and it’s best for us as we’re helping you in the case that you just got medical treatment shortly after it’s occurred. The third thing to think about is photographs. Those become super critical to us as we’re trying to establish that the store, or the restaurant, or the building where you were a guest was at fault for your accident. If we’re able to show the condition that existed that caused you to have this accident, lots of times, you’re not thinking of that when you get hurt, but maybe somebody’s with you, or maybe the next day or two, you can go back and take a picture of that area where you’ve gotten hurt. That really helps us later on in your case. Also, your injuries. Photograph your injuries after they occur, whether that’s a bruise, a cut, a bump, or whatever it may be. A photograph of injuries enables us to show the other side of your case. What you were dealing with at the time of the accident. And fourth, follow up on your medical care.

If you go to the emergency room and the emergency room doctor or PA tells you to see your family doctor or to see a specialist, whether that be an orthopedic surgeon, or a concussion specialist, do that follow up. Because again, something like a concussion may not seem bad at first, but those are the types of injuries that can get worse as time moves on. So, follow up with your medical care. And lastly, call us. The sooner we talk to you and can help you with your case the better. So, if you do those five things, we can help you with your fall down case and I’d be happy to talk to you. Thank you.