Protect yourself after a fall
Rarely do we prepare for the worse, however, with winter quickly approaching the chances of a slip and fall drastically increase. Do you know what to do if you slip and fall and seriously injure yourself? How about if your elderly parent or grandparent slips and falls? If you don’t this is a great time to learn the proper steps to take once you’ve had a serious fall.
Here are the 3 main steps that you need to take once you have fallen:
- Seek Medical Attention
- It is imperative that you get checked out by a doctor immediately. Primarily, this is for your own safety to make sure that you have not broken or sprained anything or have internal bleeding.
- No one is questioning how tough you are, even if your fall does not hurt right away. Going to a doctor immediately is important because you could experience pain or discomfort later on.
- It is impossible for you to know the long-term implications of a fall, because of this, it is imperative that you have a medical record of seeing a doctor the day of or soon after your fall to corroborate your claim if you do experience pain later on.
- Gather Evidence:
- Take pictures of the area where the incident took place as soon as possible
- It is important that pictures accurately demonstrate the conditions.
- For example, for cracked sidewalks, show height differences by using an object such as a coin in the picture as a point of reference.
- For snow build-up, use an object like a pen to show height, etc.
- If someone witnessed your fall, do not hesitate to approach the person and ask for their contact information.
- Keep the footwear you were wearing at the time of the accident.
- Contact Millars Law for a Free Consultation
- We know that personal injury lawyers have a bad reputation for chasing after insurance claims. However, the reason why it is important to call a lawyer after a slip and fall is because treatments for injuries can be extremely expensive. Why you should pay tens of thousands of dollars to not feel pain because of someone else’s negligence? We do not think you should, and that’s why we are prepared to fight for you.
Some Other Useful Information:
Falls On Private Property:
In the event an accident occurs on private property, such as a friend’s home, liability is established if one can prove the defendant was negligent in providing a reasonably safe premise as per section 3(1) of Occupiers Liability Act. The lawyer must be able to prove that such failure caused your injuries. In this situation, the injured person generally has a maximum of 2 years to provide notice of the accident and institute legal proceedings.
Falls on Public Property:
If your slip and fall occurred on the municipal property such as a bridge, highway, or at City Hall you must demonstrate gross negligence. This involves proving the municipality was careless to the point of reckless disregard in its maintenance of the accident area, and that carelessness took place in a way that created a risk of harm to people. Also, you must notify the municipality of the location, date, time and injuries of the accident within as little as 10 days in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001.
If you slip and fall and seriously injure yourself, you should be able to get your life and health back—and not on your own dime.
Don’t let a notice period slip by in your Slip and Fall Accident
Contact us today for a FREE consultation: (519) 657-1LAW or info@ml-dev.thirdeyeinsights.ca
