If a loved one is seriously injured in a car accident, and you believe they have a spinal cord injury, you may be tempted to try to help remove them from the car as soon as you can. Maybe you’re worried about a secondary accident or something of this nature. Maybe you’re just trying to help, and they’re asking to get out of the vehicle.
You need to be very careful in a situation like this. General advice says that you should never move someone who has a spinal cord injury. This can be a neck injury or a back injury. Keeping them still should be your priority.
Movement can make the injury worse
The problem is that moving someone with a serious injury may just cause that condition to get worse. They need to be stabilized before they’re moved, and the medical teams have the proper equipment to do this. That’s why it’s usually better to leave the person in as safe a position as you can and then allow the medical teams to help them get out of the car. Trying to do it yourself may inadvertently make things worse than they would have been otherwise.
For instance, a neck injury that would have healed could turn into permanent paralysis. There are even cases where moving a person could prove fatal. It is always best to leave this to the experienced professionals who know the best steps to take to keep your loved one in good health.
Of course, this type of medical treatment can be very expensive, and many spinal cord injuries are life-threatening. When someone has gone through this, it is important for them to understand all their legal options to seek compensation.
