Suffered A Head Injury From A Fall At A Bar? What You Should Do
If you have recently been out to a popular bar in your area, you know that on busy nights, the crowds can get crazy and sometimes accidents and injuries happen. And when an injury affects you, such as a head injury, you may be wondering what you can or should do to deal with that injury. There are many factors that will contribute to the issue of a head injury at a bar that you will need to consider when you are thinking about contacting personal injury attorneys to help you with your situation. Get to know some of these factors so you can be sure you are doing what is best for you and your situation as soon as possible.
Be Sure You Keep All Related Medical Records
Because you experienced your accident in a business establishment, you will need to keep all of the records of your accident and head injury to use in any personal injury lawsuit that you might plan to file. It is also important that you accept any offered medical service from emergency medical personnel at the scene of the accident. Refusal of care can negate any personal injury claim that you file after the fact because it would be difficult to prove that your head injury came from that specific incident.
Accepting medical care at the scene is just the first step, though. You will also need to be examined either by an emergency room physician or another doctor immediately after the incident as well as for any recommended follow-up visit. Keeping the records of these visits will be helpful in working with your personal injury attorneys to determine if you have a case or not.
Ask the Physicians to Perform a Blood Alcohol Test
Injuries and accidents at bars can be tricky because they often involve people that are under the influence of alcohol. This can be used to pin blame for the incident on the person that was injured rather than on the establishment itself. And even if you were the designated driver for your group of friends at the bar that night, the bar could try to use such an argument against you in a court case.
As such, you should ask the emergency room physician to run a blood alcohol panel and any other appropriate toxicology screenings on you to determine whether or not you were above the legal limits for alcohol or under the influence of any other substance at the time of the accident. You can also request that police officers that respond to the scene or the EMTs perform a breathalyzer test on you. Do not try to perform a standard field sobriety test (cognitive function, balance, etc...) when you have suffered a head injury, though. The head injury could cause you to fail the test and be incorrectly perceived as intoxicated.
With these tips in mind, you can be sure that you handle the situation after you have suffered a head injury from a fall at a bar as well as possible. Talk with an attorney like those at Lerner, Piermont & Riverol, P.A. for more information.
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