Personal Injury Lawyer

A trip to visit your aging parent in the nursing home should be one that fills you with joy. Instead, if you find yourself feeling like something is wrong or off, you should not ignore it. Sometimes, there may be misconduct or negligence happening behind closed doors. While you may spot some of the physical indications of abuse, there are also invisible indicators that things are amiss. If you find yourself wondering about how your parent is being treated when you aren’t there, you may want to get help. Here are some of the steps you can take to ensure your parent is safe.

Nursing Home Director

If you have suspicions that something is wrong with your parent, you may want to take it up with the nursing home director first. The reaction to your report may help you gauge the level of care at the facility. There are times where the director is not aware that staff members are not doing their jobs. Make an appointment to see the director if possible and bring your list of concerns. Document the steps the director sets out for rectifying any issues you raise.

Physicians

Someone who should be able to spot the physical signs of abuse is your parent’s physician. There are some clear physical indicators of nursing home abuse or neglect, including:

• Skin ulcers or bedsores
• Injuries in all stages of healing
• Malnutrition
• Frequent illness or infection

If you suspect that your parent is not being cared for or abused, you may want to make an appointment with the physician and get things checked out. The doctor has an ethical duty to report abuse indications.

Police

Your local authorities may be your first or last call if you believe your parent is being abused. The police must come out and do a full report. As part of their investigation, they will interview the staff, administration and even other residents. There may be other reports for the same facility that you do not know about. The police will also call elder services, a sector of social services. Eldercare social workers can drop in and monitor your parent for continuing signs of abuse or neglect in your absence.

All aging people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. If you have a strong suspicion that there is something wrong at your parent’s care facility, a consultation with a lawyer, may be warranted. An advocate who knows the system may be just the person you need on your side.

Personal Injury Lawyer

Standing water impairs traction, making it difficult for motorcycle tires to maintain a grip on the road. Poor drainage from road surfaces poses a challenge for even the most skilled rider.

Standing water also conceals hazardous road defects. Motorcyclists can try to maneuver around visible potholes. When the pothole is filled with and surrounded by standing water, an unsuspecting rider is at risk of blowing a tire or losing balance after riding into it.

Other road defects may be hidden by standing water including ridges, cracks in the pavement, and uneven pavement surfaces. Riders are at risk of hitting debris that could puncture tires or damage wheels when the debris is covered by water.

The government that owns the road has the obligation to maintain it. Maintenance includes removing draining obstructions so that water is not allowed to pool in the road. Unfortunately, government leaders are so afraid of raising taxes that road maintenance suffers.

When a government neglects its duty to maintain roads, motorcyclists who are injured because of standing water can bring a legal claim. State laws typically require them to give notice of that claim shortly after the accident occurs. Failing to give that notice can result in a loss of the opportunity to make a claim for compensation against the government.

A motorcycle accident lawyer, like a motorcycle accident lawyer from Butler Law Firm, can investigate the circumstances of the accident and advise the injury victim of the deadline for filing a notice of claim. Contacting a lawyer after an accident caused by standing water should be one of the injured motorcyclist’s first priorities.

Is There a Time Limit for Going to a Doctor After a Motorcycle Accident Caused by Standing Water?

While there are time limits for filing a notice of claim and starting a lawsuit, no law places a deadline on seeing a doctor after a motorcycle accident. There are nevertheless practical reasons for doing so as soon as possible.

Prompt treatment can save lives. While serious injuries will often result in emergency room treatment, the severity of an injury is not always obvious. When a rider’s body slams against the pavement or a bike falls onto the rider’s chest, the rider may suffer from internal bleeding or organ damage. Riders might not know that the injury is serious until it is too late to treat.

Head injuries can cause bleeding or swelling in the brain. The only symptom may be a mild headache until sudden pain leads to death. An immediate evaluation can mean the difference between survival and death.

Prompt treatment also encourages healing. Trying to “walk off” an injury might only increase the damage. Injuries to muscles and joints can cause lasting pain that eventually becomes debilitating if treatment does not begin immediately. Motorcyclists might condemn themselves to a lifetime of disabling pain if they do not see a doctor immediately after a crash.

Seeing a Doctor After a Motorcycle Accident Caused by Standing Water Improves the Outcome of Injury Claims

Governments employ claims managers to evaluate legal claims. They typically view their job as protecting the government’s budget by denying claims whenever they can.

Claims managers scrutinize an injured motorcyclist’s medical records. If the motorcycle rider did not seek prompt treatment, the claims manager will deny that any eventual treatment was related to the standing water. They will argue that the treatment must be related to a later accident, because people who are injured in an accident usually seek treatment right away.

Claims managers also look for treatment gaps. If an injured rider decides to ignore a doctor’s advice and blows off appointments, the claims manager will assume the injury healed and will attribute renewed treatment to a new injury. Seeing a doctor quickly and following treatment recommendations is the best way to protect a motorcycle rider’s ability to obtain compensation.