Each year millions of Americans suffer burn injuries that cause excruciating pain, discomfort, and disfigurement, with some leading to death. Because of the severity of damages from burns, patients may need long-term medical and psychological care to address health issues that result from chemical, electrical, thermal, and radiation burns.
At Shapiro & Sternlieb, LLC, our lawyers have extensive experience in burn injury cases. To speak to an attorney about your claim, please call (732) 617-8050 today for a free consultation. We welcome clients from Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey.
Common Sources of Burn Injuries
Burn injuries can happen from a variety of sources. Whether it occurs at the workplace or in the home, burns can affect your ability to perform normal day-to-day activities, as well as inhibit you from living a normal, social life. The most common sources of burn injuries include:
- Thermal burns: These burns generally result from contact with heated objects and substances like stream, cooking oil, fire, and boiling water.
- Chemical burns: Chemical burns can happen at home and school but most often occur in the workplace where chemicals are used. Strong acids and bases, battery acid, bleach, pool chlorine, and metal cleaners are a few examples of chemicals that can burn skin.
- Electrical burns: When an electrical current runs through the body it can damage blood vessels, tissue, nerves, and muscles. If the current is strong enough it may even cause heartbeat problems or cause you to fall, leading to other injuries.
- Radiation burns: Most commonly caused by overexposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays or from a tanning bed. Burns can also occur from thermal radiation, radio frequency energy, and ionizing radiation.
Events That Can Cause Burn Injury
Just as there are multiple types of burn injury sources, there are multiple events that can facilitate those types of burn injuries. At Shapiro & Sternlieb, LLC, we have experience working cases in many areas and we can help if you’ve suffered burns resulting from:
Categories of Burns
No matter how or where you sustained your burn, it’s important to know the severity of the injury to make sure you seek the appropriate medical attention. There are three categories for burn injuries which are listed as follows:
- First degree burn: Generally the mildest burn injuries. These injuries result in pain and redness on the top layer of the skin.
- Second degree burn: These affect the top two layers of skin (epidermis and dermis) and can cause pain, redness, swelling, and blisters.
- Third degree burns: These are the most severe burns as they affect nearly all layers of the skin to its deeper levels. Skin may look charred, white, or blackened and feel numb to the touch.
The more severe the burn the more long-term damage you may experience in the affected area. While second degree burns can usually be treated with an antibiotic cream or ointment prescribed by a doctor, third degree burns may cause significant health issues and require skin grating or even intravenous antibiotics to stave off infection. It’s recommended you seek medical care for any burn injury.
Contact a New Jersey Burn Injury Lawyer Today
If you were burned while performing your work duties, because of a defective product, or as the result of someone’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages you sustained. Severe burns can negatively affect your ability to function normally as well as cause psychological harm as a result of permanent disfigurement.
At the law offices of Shapiro & Sternlieb, LLC, we fight for you to get the compensation you deserve. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries from a burn, contact us (732) 617-8050 for your initial consultation. We work on a contingency basis, which means that we don’t get paid until you do. We proudly serve the Jersey City and Newark areas of New Jersey.
