Did Emergency or Medical Personnel Make a Spinal Injury Worse?
In a fall from a height, motor vehicle collision, skiing crash or other violent impact accident, there is always the potential for a spinal cord injury. If the first people to render aid or emergency care professionals fail to take basic precautions or properly assess a back or neck injury, a minor or treatable condition can become permanent paralysis.
At Eisenberg, Gilchrist & Cutt, our mission is to exact justice for our clients and to educate the public and care providers about how to treat an accident victim who might have spinal cord damage.
We have handled spinal cord injury cases across Utah, including lawsuits in which medical workers carelessly compounded injuries or failed to treat them in time to prevent irreversible damage. Call 866.679.8490 or e-mail us to arrange for a free evaluation of your possible personal injury and/or medical malpractice claims.
Precautions for a Potential Spinal Cord Injury
In one example of a double tragedy that should have been prevented, we represented a man who was thrown from his bike in a bad motorcycle crash. When emergency workers arrived, he was on fire from leaking gas that had ignited. He was airlifted to a Medical Center for treatment of severe burns — but not properly assessed or restrained for the possibility of a back or neck injury. His spinal cord damage was not properly addressed by hospital staff until it was too late. Over several days, he lost movement in his arms and legs and today is permanently paraplegic.
Our lawsuit successfully demonstrated that the initial cord injury was minimal and treatable, and that several levels of medical personnel were negligent for failure to take stabilizing precautions and failure to diagnose the progressive spinal cord injury.
If You Are First on the Scene ...
If a friend or family member suffers a bad fall or crash, or if you come upon such an accident scene, you should treat the person as if they do have a spinal injury:
- Do not move victims unless they are in imminent danger (fire, leaking gas, etc.).
- If you must move the person, support the neck and back as much as possible.
- Carefully lie the person down rather than in a sitting position.
- Hold the head with a hand on each side to stabilize it from further damage.
- Do not turn the neck or tilt the head back unless necessary to perform CPR.
- Do not try to remove the person's jacket or clothing.
- Call 911 and do not let the victim get up before help arrives.
- Mention possible spinal cord injury to paramedics or EMTs.
Spinal cord injuries are not always readily apparent and symptoms are not always immediate. Just because the person can move their fingers or toes does not mean the spinal cord is OK. Victims may lose function or feeling — gradually or suddenly — from swelling, leaking spinal fluid or suffer further damage from movement.
