A car crash in New Mexico can be a frightening experience, especially if your child is a passenger in the car. While you can take steps to protect yourself before and after the accident, your child’s health and well-being before and after a crash will depend on you.
Thankfully, the steps you should take to safeguard your child are not difficult to remember or perform. Like the actions you should take to protect your own health and legal rights, the following three steps can help ensure your child’s injuries are properly treated and full compensation for the damage done is available.
Do These 3 Things if a Negligent Driver Hurts Your Child
The suddenness of a car accident can be traumatic, upsetting, and panic-inducing to your child. Going over the following actions with your child ahead of time can help them feel reassured that you have things under control in the event of an accident.
Knowing what to expect after a wreck can also calm your child and prepare them to assist you as you help them.
1. Assess the Severity of Your Child’s Injuries
Your child may not know the extent of their injuries, or they may not be able to express clearly how they have been hurt. It will fall on you to determine whether their injuries are severe and what response is appropriate.
If you notice any of the following about your child or their injuries, you should consider calling 911 and asking for emergency help. Otherwise, you should get your child to an emergency room right away if they:
- Are bleeding profusely or have abrasions over a large portion of their body
- Lose consciousness for any time or complain of a severe headache
- Experience tingling or numbness in their extremities
- Say they cannot move or experience pain when trying to move their arms or legs
As you should with your own injuries, if you have any questions about the severity of any injuries, err on the side of caution by getting your child to a hospital as soon as possible.
2. Make Sure You Get Your Child to All Follow-Up Appointments
Next, make sure you understand any follow-up treatment your child will need and make every effort to keep appointments and follow any at-home treatment directions. Not only will doing this help your child make as full of a physical recovery as possible, but it will help strengthen your claim for damages relating to your child’s care and treatment.
3. Encourage Your Child to Keep a Journal
If your child is old enough to express their thoughts and feelings through writing, encourage them to keep a special journal about how the car accident has made them feel. Remind them that no feeling is “wrong,” and they should feel free to write as much or as little as they want.
If your child needs therapy, this journal may provide helpful insights into your child’s thinking so the therapist can better assist your child. Additionally, depending on the thoughts your child writes down, a journal could help corroborate a claim for compensation for emotional damages your child sustained because of the crash.
Seek Out Experienced Help from a New Mexico Car Accident Lawyer
Last, both you and your child could benefit immensely from a knowledgeable and seasoned attorney. A car wreck lawyer can review the facts of your case and injuries and help you obtain compensation from the at-fault party.
If you are prepared to move forward with a trustworthy advocate by your side, contact the New Mexico car personal injury law firm, Hunt Law.