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BURN INJURIES

Eau Claire Burn Injury Lawyers

One of the most painful injuries that one can ever experience is a burn injury. When a burn occurs to the skin, nerve endings are damaged causing intense feelings of pain. Every year, millions of people in the United States are burned in one way or another. Of those, thousands die as a result of their burns. Many require long-term hospitalization and rehabilitation. Burns are a leading cause of unintentional death in the United States, exceeded in numbers only by automobile crashes and falls.

Serious burns are complex injuries. In addition to the pain of the initial injury, burn survivors must suffer through numerous surgeries and skin grafts. Sometimes the treatment can be even more painful than the original injury. Young burn survivors suffer the most. Skin grafts do not expand and must be continually replaced during the growing years.

Burn survivors also face tremendous emotional pain. The stares, questions and well-meant over-protection and sympathy often overwhelm a burn survivor. Burn injuries force a radical change in a person's life. Doubts are raised about identity and self-worth. Strong friendships can crumble, previous physical skills can become challenges, and long hospitalization and recuperation can set back schooling and careers.

Classifying Burns

Burns are classified in two ways: Method and degree of burn.

Methods are:

• Thermal - including flame, radiation, or excessive heat from fire, steam, and hot liquids and hot objects.
• Chemical - including various acids, bases, and caustics. 
• Electrical - including electrical current and lightning.
• Light - burns caused by intense light sources or ultraviolet light, which includes sunlight.
• Radiation - such as from nuclear sources. Ultraviolet light is also a source of radiation burns.

Degrees are:

• First degree burns are superficial injuries that involve only the epidermis or outer layer of skin. They are the most common and the most minor of all burns. The skin is reddened and extremely painful. The burn will heal on its own without scarring within two to five days. There may be peeling of the skin and some temporary discoloration.
• Second degree burns occur when the first layer of skin is burned through and the second layer, the dermal layer, is damaged but the burn does not pass through to underlying tissues. The skin appears moist and there will be deep intense pain, reddening, blisters and a mottled appearance to the skin. Second degree burns are considered minor if they involve less than 15 percent of the body surface in adults and less than 10 percent in children. When treated with reasonable care, second degree burns will heal themselves and produce very little scarring. Healing is usually complete within three weeks. 
• Third degree burns involve all the layers of the skin. They are referred to as full thickness burns and are the most serious of all burns. These are usually charred black and include areas that are dry and white. While a third-degree burn may be very painful, some patients feel little or no pain because the nerve endings have been destroyed. This type of burn may require skin grafting. As third degree burns heal, dense scars form.

Burn injuries can result from a variety of different activities and sources.

The destruction of nerves from any burn is extremely dangerous as the ability to feel pain is essential to survival. The microscopically thin layers of cells making up our skin protect humans from invasion of microorganisms, as well as sensory nerves designed to detect pain and other sensations. Burn injuries impede the skin’s ability to experience pain, which is used to raise an alarm to alert the individual that help is needed. Without being able to experience the sensation of pain, people can risk further harm.

In addition, burn injuries affect the skin’s ability to prevent loss of body fluids, so burn injuries can lead to dehydration. In addition, the skin regulates body temperature by controlling the amount of evaporation of fluids from the sweat glands. Not only can burn injuries severely affect the body’s functioning, but they can also drastically alter a person’s appearance. They frequently result in permanent that can be mentally and psychologically difficult to cope with. There are three major types of scarring caused by burn injuries are:

1. Keloidal Scars - these result from an overgrowth of scar tissue and can grow beyond the site of the injury. These scars, depending on ethnicity, are generally red or pink in color and over time become dark tan. Depending upon how extensive a burn injury is, keloidal scars can become binding and limit mobility.

2. Hypertrophic scars - these exhibit redness, thickness and are raised above the surface of the skin. They differ from keloidal scars in that they are limited to the site of the burn injury and can improve over time.

3. Contracture scars - these types of scars are caused by normal elastic connective tissue being replaced by inelastic fibrous tissue. This results in the skin being resistant to stretching and normal mobility, and a permanent tightening of the skin area. They also affect the underlying muscles and tendons.

If you suffered a burn injury as a result of someone else’s negligent or wrongful conduct in a car accident, workplace accident, farm accident, or from the use of an unsafe product or medical negligence, you need a compassionate yet aggressive law firm with experienced lawyers working on your behalf to obtain the compensation that you are entitled to for your financial compensation losses. Contact our office to speak to an Eau Claire burn injury lawyer with experience and proven results.

At Herrick & Hart, our attorneys have obtained very successful results for injured adults and children in northwestern Wisconsin, including Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, Hudson, Rice Lake, Superior, Wausau, LaCrosse, and everywhere in between.

Two of our Eau Claire burn injury lawyers are board-certified in trial advocacy, a mark of legal proficiency that fewer than two percent of Wisconsin attorneys have achieved. Through the dedicated efforts of our experienced attorneys, our firm has been able to recover significant financial compensation for past clients with burn injuries, including:

• $1.3 million for burn injuries from a gas fireplace explosion and fire
• $700,000 for burn injuries due to defective wiring in mobile home
• $600,000 for burn injuries in industrial fire

To talk to a Wisconsin attorney who has handled explosion and electrocution burn injuries, contact the law firm of Herrick & Hart. We are prepared to take your case to court.

For more information about the issues faced by an injured person, please refer our Personal Injury Practice Center and to the following FAQ pages on this Web site:

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• Marquette County • St. Croix County • Trempeleau County

The law firm of Herrick & Hart serves injured people in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and the surrounding communities of Cameron, Chetek, Chippewa Falls, Hayward, Hudson, La Crosse, Marshfield, Medford, Menomonie, Rice Lake, River Falls, Spooner, Stevens Point, Superior and Wausau.