What to Do After Being Injured in a Fall

If you’ve been injured after a trip, slip, or any other type of fall, you shouldn’t just brush it off. Your injury could be cause for a premises liability claim if it was the result of the landowner’s negligence—and, even if it truly was a case of clumsiness and you have no desire to pursue compensation, there are still important steps for you to take to make sure that you don’t end up with complicated injuries.

Prioritize Your Health

Falls might not seem as serious as auto accidents, criminal assaults, and other such catastrophes, but they can be just as severe a risk to your health. If you experience anything more than a light bump on the lower body (especially if your head strikes anything) you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. In the minutes or even hours following a slip and fall, the resulting adrenaline rush and shock might inhibit your ability to recognize intense pain or signs of injury; alternatively, you could also have delayed-onset injuries that will take time to manifest.

Failing to seek medical attention promptly could completely bar you from recovering for your damages; the longer you wait, the more likely your injuries will be to get worse while untreated, and the less clearly correlated they’ll be to your fall. Visiting a doctor will also generate valuable medical records proving that you were injured, which leads us to the next most important thing to do after a fall: document the incident.

Document the Fall

If you walk away from a fall without documenting it immediately, you’ll have nearly no evidence that you actually fell in the first place, much less the ability to prove fault in a slip and fall accident. Hence, more so than in any other accident, it’s vital to document the details of your fall:

• Report your accident. Depending on the scope of the fall, this could be to a manager or landlord, or even to the police if necessary. Regardless of how you go about doing it, aim to walk away from the accident with formal, written records of the fall occurring on the property and a copy of said records for personal usage.
• Gather evidence. Pictures of whatever circumstances caused your fall, eyewitness testimonies (and contact information), documentation of any suffering you experience, the exact time of the injury, and any other things that could be relevant are all excellent bits of information to gather; even if you don’t use everything, you’ll be well prepared for the claims process with a convincing body of evidence.

Talk to a Slip and Fall Attorney in Arizona First

Your first line of communication after a fall should be to an experienced attorney who can advise you on what to do next. Don’t talk in detail to landlords, owners, insurance adjusters, or other such personnel beyond the bare minimum required to open a claim and document the slip and fall. You should even be cautious of what you say to your friends—they can be asked to testify against you, and your social media posts can and will be used against you as well.

ELG can help. If you’ve been hurt in a fall, give us a call at (623) 877-3600 to schedule a free consultation with an Arizona slip and fall lawyer who can take the burden of the claims process away from you, granting you the time you need to recover and relax in the wake of a stressful injury.