What Happens if You Slip and Fall in a Hospital?
Slips and falls are some of the most common accidents that can happen anywhere, including at home, at work, while shopping, or even when you’re at the hospital. Whether you are visiting a friend or family member or for your own medical needs, the last thing you want to worry about is getting injured on hospital property. As safe as they are, hospitals are full of perils, and we don’t refer only to wet floors but clutter, medical equipment, stairs, elevators, etc.
But you might be surprised at how often it happens. You can read more about slip and fall accidents to see how common they are in a wide array of contexts and properties. From a neighbor’s yard to a fancy restaurant’s floor, it seems hazardous surfaces surround us. Tripping on wires at the office or stumbling and falling over supermarket clutter are common accidents occurring every day. Experts say that slips & falls are among the leading causes of emergency room visits.
Probably the scariest thing about slip and fall accidents is that they can result in substantial injuries, including broken bones or dislocations. If you slip and fall while in the hospital, you may be wondering what will happen next.
Main Causes of Slip & Fall Accidents in the Hospital
No matter what day of the week or the time of day, hospitals are incredibly busy places. There always seems to be an abundance of people in the building, from nurses to doctors to patients to relatives and other visitors to staff members.
Throughout the day, the hospital must remain sterile, so there are many different types of cleaning activities and patient care.
One of the most common causes of a slip and fall is the mopping of floors.
If the area isn’t marked properly and you step on the wet tiles and slip, this could lead to serious injury. On the other hand, it may also be someone else’s fault that you were injured.
However, as we said, wet floors aren’t the only thing that could lead to a slip and fall in the hospital. Some of the other hazards that could cause a serious injury include the following:
- Rooms or hallways that aren’t properly lit – without the proper lighting in a room or hallway, you may not see that there’s an extra step or an incline in the floor. It could lead to slipping and falling.
- Unsecured mats – the hospital may put mats at entrances or in the patients’ rooms to help reduce filth in the building and create a homier environment. However, if the mats aren’t secured properly, this could lead to a trip and fall, which could cause serious injury.
- Wire hazards – hospitals use a lot of equipment to keep patients healthy and alive, many of which run on electricity. If an electrical cord runs across the floor without being properly secured, it could become a tripping hazard that might lead to plenty of injuries.
- Uneven sidewalks – not all slips and falls occur inside the hospital. You could get hurt on the outside property as well. If sidewalks are uneven, broken, or overrun with weeds, these could become tripping hazards that could lead to serious injury.
What to Do if You Slip and Fall at the Hospital
If you happen to slip and fall while at the hospital, the first thing you need to do is get the proper medical care from medical professionals like dr robert macarthur to take care of the injury. Afterward, if the accident is due to someone else’s negligence, you need to get in touch with a personal injury attorney. Experienced personal injury lawyers will be able to tell you if you have a case worth pursuing and do what they can to get you the compensation you deserve.
Hospitals, like almost all facilities and institutions, have the appropriate liability insurance policies in place. For example, an elbow scratch might not warrant a claim, but back injuries, broken limbs, head injuries, etc., are grounds for legal action. In other words, a lawyer will help you negotiate a settlement with the property owner or renter’s insurance carrier.
You may be afraid that you will take money out of a hospital’s pockets and feel bad about it but don’t. Your legal action will not leave doctors or patients without salaries or the proper budget for healthcare. The insurance company will deal with the settlement.
In some cases, the hospital’s insurer and lawyers will try to prove they were not liable for your injury. However, if they try to avoid responsibility, placing it on you or someone/something else, your attorney will fight for your rights.
Keep yourself safe
Hospitals are in place to take care of the injured and ill, and they do what they can to maintain a safe environment, but accidents still occur. It doesn’t matter if you are visiting a patient or are a patient yourself; if you sustain a slip and fall injury while at the hospital and it was someone else’s fault, you deserve compensation. A lawyer is your best option to get as much as possible.
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