West Chester Burn Injury Lawyer

Burn injuries can be incredibly painful, and they can lead to long-lasting disabilities and extensive scarring and disfigurement. These injuries occur in a wide variety of ways, often due to the careless or negligent actions of someone else. At Wilk Law, our team is standing by to help if you need a West Chester burn injury lawyer.

Our West Chester law firm has extensive experience handling complex burn injury claims throughout Pennsylvania, and we want to make sure that you recover the compensation you are entitled to. When you need representation, you can contact us by clicking here for our contact form or call us at (855) 938-1757.

Types of Burn Injuries

Burn injuries are categorized by the cause of the burn. There are five prominent types of burn injuries:

Thermal burns: These burn injuries occur when the skin comes in contact with excessive heat. They can be caused by flames, steam, hot liquids, or hot surfaces, which raise the skin’s temperature too much and cause cell death.
Chemical burns: These burns are caused by contact with strong substances. While people who work with chemicals are at a greater risk of chemical burns, many household substances can cause injuries, including solvents, bleaches and cleaning chemicals, battery acid, automotive products, and even some laundry detergents.
Electrical burns: These burns occur when an alternating current (AC) or a direct current (DC) passes through the skin, damaging the tissue. If the current is strong and the connection long enough, electrical burns can damage organs and bones and may even lead to death.
Radiation burns: These burns may happen during medical treatments such as chemotherapy, either to the patient or the medical professional providing the treatment. Prolonged UV exposure may also cause radiation burns, though these are commonly referred to as sunburns.
Ice burns: These burns are caused by extremely cold objects that come into contact with the skin. When this occurs, the water in the skin cells freezes, restricting oxygen flow and damaging the tissue. Ice burns can be caused by extremely cold temperatures or by prolonged direct contact with a cold object like ice, snow, or an ice or cold pack.

What Are The Classifications of Burns?

Burn injuries are also classified according to their severity and depth. Understanding burn classification is essential to diagnosing and treating any damage done by the burn. The classification, from least serious to most serious, is:

First-degree burns: These burns are superficial and only affect the outermost layer of skin (epidermis). First-degree burn injuries are often red and dry and may be painful to the touch. These burns are not likely to cause lasting damage, although serious first-degree burns may alter the color of the skin at the burn site.
Second-degree burns: These burns are also known as partial thickness burns. They penetrate the epidermis and affect the underlayer of the skin (dermis). Like first-degree burns, second-degree burns appear red, and the burn site may also be swollen or blistered.
Third-degree burns: The most serious classification of burn injuries, third-degree burns, are those that destroy both the dermis and the epidermis. These burns may appear white or black, and the skin may be charred.
Fourth-degree burns and greater: In some cases, burns are deep enough to also damage muscles, bones, and tissue. Fourth-degree, fifth-degree, and sixth-degree burns are discolored but not painful because the nerve endings around the wound have been damaged.

Common Causes of Burn Injuries

Burn injuries occur in a wide variety of ways in and around the West Chester, PA, area. Unfortunately, burns often result in significant pain and suffering victims. Additionally, burns can lead to long-lasting scarring and disfigurement as well as long-term functionality issues. The burn injury lawyers at Wilk Law have extensive experience helping clients who have sustained injuries as a result of:

Fires and flame (gas stoves, campfires, fireworks, lighters, etc.)
Scalding (steam, hot showers/baths, hot drinks, etc.)
Hot objects (irons, pans, oven surface, playground equipment, etc.)
Cleaning chemicals (oven cleaner, bleach, disinfectant, etc.)
Automotive cleaners or hot car components
Electrocution injuries or electrical burns from outlets, plugs, tools, or appliances
Sunburns
Faulty heaters, furnaces, or other equipment
Vehicle accidents that cause fires or explosions
Defective products that become too hot or explode
Workplace accidents
Chemical spills/burns

Burn injuries are classified based on their severity. First-degree burns are considered the least severe and are unlikely to cause long-lasting complications. However, individuals who sustain third- and fourth-degree burns are likely to experience immense pain and suffering and sustain significant scarring and disfigurement that can affect their quality of life.

Determining Liability in a West Chester, PA, Burn Injury Case

Not all burns are eligible for compensation. For example, someone who receives a chemical burn injury from a broken battery won’t be able to file an injury claim unless you can prove that someone else was at fault for the injury through negligence, a defective product, or a premises liability.

Negligence

Negligence is a failure to use reasonable care in a situation that eventually leads to someone being harmed or injured. Negligence can be claimed if the guilty party acted or failed to act in a way that directly caused your injury. To claim negligence in Pennsylvania, you must prove that the liable party was responsible for protecting you from the injury, failed to protect you, and that the failure led to your injury.

Defective products

Individuals and companies selling items are responsible for ensuring that their products will not cause injury when in use. This requires careful design and testing and the display of any necessary warnings to ensure the product is used correctly.

If someone is injured using a product because of component defects, design flaws, or lack of warning information, the injured party may have grounds to sue. However, to do so, you must first prove that the manufacturer, designer, or distributor created or distributed a defective product. You must also prove that the product played an important role in causing your injury and that you were using it properly at the time the injury occurred.

Premises liability

When burn injuries happen on public properties, the owner of the property may be liable if the victim can prove that the property was not kept in a safe condition. Likewise, if the property houses any kind of hazard and the property owner fails to adequately warn visitors or doesn’t fence off dangerous areas to the public, they may be liable for injuries sustained by visitors to the property.

Determining liability can be tricky, but with the help of a professional burn injury attorney in West Chester, you can feel confident in filing your injury claim.

Treatments for Burn Injury

While small first-degree burns may be treated at home, larger or more serious burns almost always require hospitalization. Burn-related medical costs add up quickly and cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. Why so expensive? Extensive burns require extensive reconstruction and long-term care. Some burn injuries will need costly treatments such as:

Skin grafts: This procedure removes skin from one portion of the patient’s body and transplants it to the burn site.
Cultured skin substitute: This process involves growing skin in a laboratory and transplanting it onto the burn site.
Reconstructive surgery: This treatment helps improve the appearance of the burn site using operations or non-operative procedures, including plastic surgery.
Dermabrasion: This procedure gently sands down the top layer of damaged skin to improve the appearance of burns or surgical scars.
Medications: A variety of medications will be required during and after treatment for burn injuries. The type of medications used will depend on the type and thickness of the burn.
Therapy and counseling: For particularly bad burns, patients may need help returning to a lifestyle similar to the one they had before their injury. This may require occupational or physical therapy. Some burn patients may also require counseling to help them address the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of burn injuries.

As you can see, even mild burn injuries can quickly become costly. If you’ve been the victim of negligent behavior, a defective product, or sustained an unnecessary injury on someone else’s property, don’t let the cost of treatment become your responsibility. The negligent individual or company who caused your injury should be held responsible — and a West Chest burn injury lawyer can help make that happen.

How Much Is My Burn Injury Case Worth?

You should always contact a knowledgeable burn injury attorney for assistance and advice on your case. Every burn injury case is different, making it difficult to gauge how much your claim may be worth. Cases may vary depending on:

The extent of your injuries
Any costs associated with your treatment and rehabilitation
Lost wages or forgone job opportunities directly related to your injury
Emotional and mental trauma resulting from the injury
Any care-associated costs

This means that you may be able to recover compensation for everything from past and future medical bills to payments for emotional suffering or depression stemming from your injury. Even if you’ve already spoken to an insurance agent, reach out to our West Chester burn injury lawyers today for a second opinion. We’re on your side, and our most important mission is to help you receive the maximum compensation due to you.

How Will an Attorney Help My West Chester Burn Injury Claim?

Burn injury claims in West Chester often become complicated, particularly when it comes to determining liability. When an attorney steps in on behalf of an injury victim, they take over every aspect of the case. This means that they will:

Conduct an independent investigation in order to determine liability.
Ensure their client is evaluated by a trusted medical professional who can treat their injuries.
Handle all negotiations with insurance carriers to recover full compensation.
Fully prepare burn injury claim for trial if necessary.

Why Choose Wilk Law for Your Case?

At Wilk Law, our team of West Chester personal injury attorneys possess the legal acumen necessary to provide representation, and we advocate ethically, aggressively, and passionately on behalf of our clients.
We understand that every case is different, which is why we examine all evidence to put together the most compelling case possible to present to the insurance carriers or a personal injury jury.
We take West Chester burn injury claims on a contingency fee basis. This means that our clients will not have to pay any legal fees until we recover the compensation they need.

Serving West Chester, PA

West Chester, PA, is a bustling area with a downtown full of shops and restaurants and some of the most exciting people you’ll meet in the East. From street fairs to farmers’ markets, West Chester has it all and then some.

Don’t let a burn injury keep you from exploring and enjoying all that the borough has to offer. If you have been injured and don’t know where to turn, visit these resources or talk to our lawyers for advice.

Call Wilk Law Today

If you or somebody you care about has sustained a burn injury in West Chester as a result of the careless or negligent actions of someone else, you need to turn to an attorney immediately. If you or a loved one has sustained a burn injury in West Chester, don’t let the event drain your finances or prevent you from living the life you enjoy. You may be entitled to compensation as a result of a burn injury. Reach out to a professional burn injury attorney in West Chester today for advice and assistance.

When you need a West Chester burn injury lawyer, you can contact us using our contact form or call us at (855) 938-1757.

In addition to West Chester our law firm also serves Philadelphia, Coatesville, Downingtown, Phoenixville, Pottstown, Berwyn, Devon, Exton, Frazer, and more. Contact the professionals at Wilk Law online today or at (855) 946-3678 to schedule your free consultation.