After you’ve been involved in a traffic accident, you may be unsure of what type of medical treatment you may need. Heather Healy from NBC 15 Gulf Coast Today came by the Greene & Phillips offices on Florida Street to talk to David Greene to help clarify the different types of treatment that are available to you. View the full segment on MyNBC15.com

Accepting an Ambulance

The first decision someone has to make after an accident is should they accept an ambulance. What should they know before making that decision?

• Severity of injuries
• EMT Check
• Cost
• Insurance
• Urgent Care.

There are definitely circumstances where an individual can’t really make that decision because they are coming in and out of consciousness or have severe bleeding. If the EMT is already on the scene, ask them to check you over. Generally you want to play it safe, you don’t want to be in a position where you feel ok, but then black-out on the road. We’ve found that if an individual does not have severe injuries, their best bet is to drive themselves to an urgent care center. These centers often have shorter wait times and can be a lot less complicated when dealing with paperwork later in your treatment and settlement.

Urgent Care

If you make your way to a Urgent Care, what should you tell the doctor?

• Recount wreck
• Identify pain and discomfort
• Further medical care

Walk them through what happened in the wreck as you remember it, then make sure to let them know of any discomfort or specific pain that you are experiencing. Finally, if nothing is severely wrong ask if they would suggest any additional treatment like physical therapy or chiropractic care.

Physical Therapy

What are the reasons you would want to go to a chiropractor or physical therapist?

• Muscle pain
• Stretches & Exercises
• Chiropractor
• Similar results
• Doctor’s decision

Obviously I’m not a doctor, and that really should be a decision you make with them, but we see clients all the time with symptoms of whiplash, pulled muscles and a few weeks of physical therapy can really help alleviate some of the long term effects of those issues. The same thing with chiropractic care, it’s just a little different approach.

Cost of Medical Care

All this treatment sounds expensive, are there ways to keep the costs down?

• Hire Lawyer
• Letter of Protect
• No out of pocket cost

One really good reason to get a lawyer involved soon after your accident is that they can set up letter of protects, which are arrangements your attorney has made with the medical professional so you don’t have to pay anything out of pocket. The cost of their services will come out of your settlement after you have recovered fully from your accident.

More Information

If you have questions about any of this, please feel free to call our offices 251 300 2000 any time night or day, or you can stop by anytime during business hours, you don’t even need an appointment. We’d be happy to discuss your options.