One of the most debilitating types of serious car accident brain injuries that a person can sustain is one to the brain. Because a brain injury recovery can take years, it can also be one of the most expensive types of brain injuries. If you sustain such a Florida brain injury, you need a Florida traumatic brain injury attorney who understands all of the challenges of what you are experiencing as well as the intricacies of such a brain injury legal case.
Our Florida Brain Injury Attorney Help in Your Lawsuit
And having such an experienced Florida traumatic brain injury lawyer can make all the difference in your case. The Florida traumatic brain injury attorney team at Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato is here to help guide those with various brain injuries in their traumatic brain injury lawsuit cases. Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato, with offices in both Fort Lauderdale and Miami, have attorneys that are leaders in helping our clients obtain the resources that they need to recover as fully as possible from the debilitating effects of such a traumatic brain injury.
Florida Children and Toddlers and Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit
A Traumatic Brain Injury, (TBI), is any injury to the head that corrupts the normal functioning of the brain. This could either be a violent blow or bump, which can lead to a sudden jolt or the type of penetrating injury which goes through the skull as well as the brain tissue. TBI’s have the capacity to range from mild (commonly referred to as a concussion) to severe in its potential outcomes of unconsciousness or memory loss. The people most at risk of traumatic brain injury are children, especially newborns to 4-year-olds. Next would be young adults, especially those between ages 15 and 24.
Those who find out they have mild to moderate brain injuries are two times more likely to have developed issues when it comes to their attention span, and those with severe injuries are five times more likely to develop secondary ADHD.
Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury on Children
The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on children differ in more than a few ways from the effects on an injured adult due to the fact that the child’s brain is not fully developed, therefore an injury may alter the course of growth of the brain and its functions. It is unclear whether or not this works in the child’s favor. Because the child’s brain is less structured than the typical adult’s, its malleability gives off hope that damaged tissue and areas of deficiency will be eluded in the child’s brain by other sections taking over for these areas that no longer function properly.
After a brain injury, previously learned information, which implements essential building blocks for consecutive learning, is maintained and utilized. Despite this being mentioned, in extremely young children, these building blocks are relatively few, handicapping them as learners in comparison to similarly brain-injured older kids or adolescents, who have the greater basis of intact information.
The results of a TBI on the child can go unnoticed immediately upon injury but only become more obvious in the child’s life when, during the course of the child’s development, affected skills are to be demonstrated. For example, issues surrounding abstract thinking may not be apparent until the child with a TBI hits an age when abstract thinking becomes a part of the realm of possibility for any child at that developmental level.
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Because of this lag in the surfacing of problems, the cause of the problems (TBI) may not be established. It is typical that most problems are handled inappropriately as if they are due to learning disabilities or emotional causes. This misconception by teachers, parents, and others can potentially devastate the child since the strategies meant to assist a child with TBI are separate from those used to address similar issues which stem from other causes.
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Child Brain Injury Symptoms
A child can suffer in two ways: feeling diminished or confused because no is aware of what is wrong, and being hindered as a student trying to learn because of the lack of nurturing incorporated in the process of learning based on understanding his or her real needs.
Serious internal head injuries may have the potential to become life-threatening. These include a broken skull bone, torn blood vessels, or damage to the brain itself. Infants and young children with brain injuries might not be able to communicate the headaches, sensory problems, confusion, and similar symptoms they may be experiencing.
It can be hard to know how serious a head injury is, so it’s always wise to call your doctor.
Symptoms and How to Act
Make sure to dial 911 if your child reveals any of these symptoms following a head injury:
- unconsciousness for more than a matter of seconds
- irregular breathing patterns
- serious wound or scar
- bleeding or clear fluid from the nose, ear, or mouth
- dysfunction of speech or vision
- pupils of unequal proportion
- weakness or paralysis
- neck pain or stiffness
- seizure
If your child appears to be unconscious:
- It is advised not to try to move your child in the case that there is a neck or spine injury.
- Call for help.
- Turn a child who is vomiting or having a seizure onto his or her side while attempting to keep the head and neck straight. This will help prevent the possibility of choking and helps with protection in case of neck and spine injury.
If your child appears to be conscious:
- Try your best to keep your child calm and still.
- If there is any blood, apply a clean or sterile bandage.
- Do not attempt to cleanse the wound, which can make bleeding worse and/or cause serious complications if the skull is fractured.
- Do not apply direct pressure to the wound if you suspect the skull is fractured.
- Do not remove any object that’s stuck in the wound.
It is nearly impossible to prevent kids from injury, but there are methods to lessen the chances of head blows.
It can be as simple as buckling your child into your vehicle using a child safety seat, booster seat, or seat belt (depending on the child’s height, weight, and age). For the utmost protection, infants and toddlers should be buckled in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat, until they end up reaching the upper weight or height limits of their seat. Check the seat’s owner’s manual and/or labels on the seat for weight and height limits.
Furthermore, it is also recommended to make sure that your home is childproofed to prevent household accidents, and that your kids always remember to put on the proper headgear and safety equipment when riding their bikes, skating, skateboarding, snowboarding or skiing, and playing sports.
Re-Injury take an even longer amount of time to fully heal
Following a head injury, do not allow your child to partake in rough play or sports again until the doctor approves. If your child reinjures the brain while it is still in the healing process, it will take an even longer amount of time to fully heal.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a traumatic brain injury, it is important to know who to contact for the sake of you or the patient’s personal brain injury legal case. In areas of South Florida, you can find a Florida traumatic brain injury attorney at the office of Wolf & Pravato and receive a free, no-obligation, confidential consultation. We can look into your unique case and go in full detail of your rights and options.
Having an experienced lawyer in the area of brain injury can make all the difference in your specific case. The legal team at Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato is here to help guide those with various brain injuries in their Florida traumatic brain injury lawsuit cases. Our ultimate goal is to give our clients the resources that they require in order to recover as fully as possible from the conflicting outcomes of such a traumatic brain injury. It is better to act sooner rather than later.
What are Traumatic Brain Injury Causes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is “caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain”. These can range from a mild case when you have a “brief change in mental status” or when you lose consciousness to a more severe case which can include extended loss of consciousness and even memory loss. Mild TBIs are also often referred to as “concussions,” a term that has been in the news a lot lately with recent discussions about traumatic brain injuries in athletes such as pro football players and wrestlers.
A brain injury can occur from a number of common mishaps even car accidents some of which are the result of negligence or are the fault of others and some of which are common household accidents. These causes include:
- Falls;
- Automobile accidents (including public transit);
- Defective products
- Physical violence including abuse and assaults; and
- Sports-related concussions.
What are Traumatic Brain Injury Risk Factors?
According to the CDC Traumatic Brain Injury report contribute to about 30% of all injury-related deaths. Traumatic brain injuries are disproportionately found through brain injury MRI in the very young and the elderly, mainly as a result of falls. Other risk factors/causes of brain-related injuries include motor vehicle brain injury crashes, which account for most of the injuries to those ages 15-44, and physical assaults, which accounted for approximately ten percent of all traumatic brain injuries. Additionally, men are three times more likely than women to receive a traumatic brain injury.
Florida Brain Injury Cases Problems
One of the biggest problems when it comes to treating “mild” to “moderate” Florida traumatic brain injury cases is in the diagnosis itself. Such an injury often avoids detection, even on the most sophisticated hospital brain imaging equipment. This is especially true in emergency room situations when the doctor is often just treating the immediate symptoms and not looking at long-term care. The lack of brain treatment leads to further complications that can make brain injury recovery even more difficult.
If Your are the Victim of Brain Injury Contact Our Florida Brain Injury Lawyer
Because of the “invisible” nature of the injury, victims of TBI very rarely receive prompt treatment for their physical and cognitive impairments. In the review of TBI cases, it is quite common to find the brain injury victims’ early medical charts are devoid of any mention of “head injury” or “cognitive impairment.” These early admitting TBI healthcare providers are more concerned with stabilizing the patient so it is only later that they may fully diagnose the true nature of the injury and actually initiate the necessary TBI treatment. For more information contact our Florida traumatic brain injury lawyer.
TBI Is Considered an Epidemic In This Country
Currently, TBI is considered an epidemic in this country with five million people living with TBI disabilities as a result of such an injury. Early detection is one of the keys to successful brain treatment and the medical charts are an important tool in determining when TBI was suspected or diagnosed. As you focus on your brain injury recovery (or the recovery of a loved one), our Florida Traumatic brain injury attorney can comb through all of the pertinent brain medical charts to help pinpoint what causes a brain injury as well as helping to determine whether your health care professionals acted in a timely manner to diagnose the condition.
What Areas Affected by Traumatic Brain Injuries?
Depending on the TBI severity, a person is a victim of a TBI, he or she will not be able to process information at pre-injury rates of speed. Additionally, these brain injury victims cannot think the same and comprehend as wide a range of subjects as someone who has not had a TBI. TBIs can also impact the following areas:
- Brain injury impairs judgment, including making poor or “irrational” decisions in situations;
- Communication such as having slurred speech or slower response time to questions or conversation;
- Neurological behavior sometimes manifesting itself in frustration or even a violent temper;
- The smell, including the complete loss of this sense; and
- Memory, including sometimes significant gaps in memory or difficulty creating new long-term or short-term memories.
TBI Such a Horrid Condition
What makes TBI such a horrid condition born out of a “private hell” is that the victim is often alone and unable to resolve the injury. They are already confused, but that confusion is augmented by the fact that they are aware of the fact that they are not able to function at the level they did before the injury. They also, sometimes, are faced with the added frustration of having to prove their injury to health care workers, who sometimes classify the victim as a “malingering” who is faking the injury for attention or financial gain. Because the victim still outwardly appears to be the same person they were before, they even sometimes are isolated from their own family members who do not realize the severity of the injury.
After a Brain Injury, A Florida Traumatic Brain Injury Can Help Legally
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a traumatic brain injury, a South Florida traumatic brain injury attorney at Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato is available for a free, no-obligation, confidential consultation. We can evaluate your case and apprise you of your rights and options. Justice is not automatic, and our Florida personal injury lawyer is prepared to fight for you.
