Individuals can suffer small minor burns at any given time, even from a natural source such as the sun. However, what happens when the burn is caused by negligence and the results are much more severe than a small sunburn?
Unfortunately, this is the situation for many individuals and understanding the potential causes—as well as the degrees and symptoms—can help prevent this type of serious injury or can help in legal matters.
Potential Causes of Burns
There are a number of different ways a burn injury can occur. Some of the most common include:
- Burns occurring from flames such as from fires, matches, stoves, and other heat sources that have flames.
- When a hot liquid—water, coffee, etc.—touches the skin, it can cause a scalding burn. The hotter and thicker the liquid is, increases the potential for serious burns.
- A contact burn can occur when the skin comes in contact with something that is hot, such as a cooking pan or iron.
- Electrical burns may occur if wires are defective and currents of electricity come in contact with the individual.
- Chemical burns may exist in certain industries, including the presence of flammable gases, acidic liquids, and more.
Degrees of Burn Injuries
Burn injuries are often categorized by various degrees depending on how severe the burn is and what symptoms the victim may be experiencing. Here are the various degrees that may be diagnosed:
- First-degree burns: These typically involve damage to the outermost layer of skin, usually resulting in redness, pain, and slight swelling. There may not be blistering, and recovery happens rather quickly.
- Second-degree burns: These may impact the dermis, the second layer of skin. These burns are much more painful than first degree burns and may include blistering and may require 2 to 6 weeks for recovery.
- Third-degree burns: These are the most severe of the burns and can lead to damage to the fat, nerves, muscles, and bones, as well as the third layer of the skin. Typically, the area isn’t painful because of the damage done to nerve endings.
Inhalation burns can also occur, when individuals breathe in hot gases. As a result, it could cause problems with breathing.
At Cunningham Bounds, our Alabama burn injury attorneys understand the difficulties involved in proving negligence in burn injury cases. We work hard to put your best interests first and to help guide you throughout the entire process.
Call our legal team today at (844) 417-0930 to discuss your potential case.