Motor vehicle crashes are responsible for most of the traumatic brain injuries suffered in our country. If you should become a victim, you will need to focus all your efforts on recovery.
However, recovery may mean months, if not years, of expensive medical treatment, including rehabilitation. How would you manage?
How the brain deals with injury
Once your condition becomes stable, the brain begins to rewire itself, making new pathways among cells that are still healthy. In fact, through the process of plasticity, healthy cells take on some of the work of damaged cells. Unfortunately, the brain needs help in this endeavor, which is why you must participate in rehabilitation.
Making a recovery
A serious brain injury always results in some form of ongoing impairment. With some of the connections in your brain severed, you would no longer have access to certain types of information. Rehabilitation will help you compensate for the impairment and relearn skills the injury caused you to forget. For example, you may have forgotten basic activities for daily living, but through persistence and professional guidance you can relearn those skills.
New emergency treatment
Forestalling the most serious consequences of a traumatic brain injury is the motivation behind a new treatment protocol for accident victims. The results of EPIC, or the Excellence in Prehospital Injury Care Project, were announced to the Arizona public in May 2019. The treatment involves using a breathing bag with a flashing light that tells emergency personnel exactly when to administer high-flow oxygen to a brain injury victim, thereby stopping brain cells from dying. Testing by the University of Arizona and first responders across the state has been so successful that researchers believe it will change emergency care for brain injury “all over the world.”
Help from an advocate
Recovery from a serious brain injury requires time, dedication and money. If you suffer such an injury as the victim of a vehicle crash, explore your legal options promptly. While you focus on rehabilitation, you can rely on an advocate to investigate the accident thoroughly, uncover negligence, and negotiate full and fair financial compensation on your behalf.