When you think of a burn injury, the first types of injuries that come to mind are burns to the skin that come from a fire or flame. While this is a common, almost universal injury for most people that suffer burns, there are other types of burn injuries that affect you internally. One of the most serious types of these injuries is lung burn injuries. Whether lung damage is caused by lung burn injuries or damage to the tissue and nerves around your throat and chest, a lung burn injury can cause severe and permanent damage in some cases.
Obviously, damage to your lungs requires extensive, specialized medical care to repair–or at least halt–any damage. Not only that, but simply being able to function and breathe normally again could require surgeries, rehabilitation, or even breathing assistance from devices. All told, when you suffer a lung burn injury, your way of life will have been significantly altered.
Free Consultations For Kentucky Lung Burn Injury Victims
At Kaufman & Stigger, our experienced and resourceful Kentucky lung burn injury lawyers know how devastating these injuries can be for you and your family. Not only will you have to invest huge portions of your time and money in recovery, but you also will miss out on things like work and being able to enjoy time with your loved ones. While this can be difficult, we want you to understand that you have options to recover at least some portion of the damages from these accidents.
Our lawyers can provide you with all the information you need to get the legal process started and begin working towards a positive outcome with a claim for damages. To learn more about how we can help you, contact us today for a free consultation.
Why Are Kentucky Lung Burn Injuries So Dangerous?
With any exposure to flames or chemicals, the potential for a burn injury to your lungs and respiratory system exists. Often, lung burn injuries of this type come from second-degree or third-degree burns to the face, throat, or upper chest. However, they can also be present when there are no superficial burns but hot fumes or steam are inhaled. This inhalation, as well as the degree of injury to the lungs, depends on the following criteria:
- The intensity of the heat source
- The amount of time of exposure
- The temperatures reached by the heat source
- The chemical composition of the fumes
- Any pre-existing conditions you may have
Usually in these unfortunate cases, not only will you have suffered internal damage to your lungs, but a burn injury to the skin and tissue surrounding your respiratory system as well. This poses its own set of challenges, but the most pressing need in a lung burn injury is to make sure you’re able to breathe and circulate oxygen. This, obviously, requires extensive and emergency medical care in most cases.
Another dangerous quality of lung burn injuries is exposure to toxic chemicals and difficulty in knowing the extent of your injuries. Because they are not always visible, lung burn injuries can sometimes be underestimated–or at the very least could take a while to be properly diagnosed. However, when a lung burn injury occurs, the effects will be readily apparent. The nature of lung burn injuries, usually caused by smoke inhalation, brings your lungs in contact with a variety of harmful chemicals like:
- Carbon monoxide
- Cyanide
- Styrene
- Toluene
- Benzene
- Aldehydes
- Acid gases
- Sulfur dioxide
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Nitrogen oxides
Not only are these chemicals harmful because of a burn injury, but they can quickly lead to poisoning where you could suffer further, permanent damage or even death.
Common Kentucky Lung Burn Injuries
After any exposure to chemicals and other sources of a lung burn injury, a proper medical evaluation is vital to your recovery. But again, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out the extent of the damage to your lungs and respiratory system, especially if you are taken to an emergency room. While the focus will initially be on stabilizing your condition, the severity of your burn injury could mean you will be taken to a burn treatment center for specialized care. This will be extremely helpful to identify your symptoms, which can include the following in a lung burn injury:
- Shallow, quick breathing
- Labored breathing
- High-pitched sounds or noises while breathing
- Low-pitched rattling while breathing
- Skin retraction while breathing
While the immediate effects of a lung burn injury certainly require attention, it’s often the long-term injuries that result in prolonged treatment and care. These injuries and damage include:
- Respiratory failure
- Poisoning
- Pneumonia Reactive Airway Dysfunction Syndrome
- Internal inhalation burns
- Infections
- Hypoxia
- Bronchiole obstruction
- Atelectasis
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
- Cancer
- Death
The main source of treatment for lung burn injuries is the administration of oxygen through intubation or masks. However, in severe cases, you may have to be placed in a compression (hyperbaric) chamber to receive oxygen.
No matter what type of lung burn injury you’ve suffered, it’s important to understand that you have options to approach getting the financial and emotional support you’ll need to go along with your physical recovery. Consulting with our experienced Kentucky burn injury lawyers can help you fully understand your options.
Options For Kentucky Lung Burn Injury Victims
Suffering a lung burn injury is never ideal, but becomes especially traumatic and heightened when it was caused by the negligence of another person or entity. Whether the accident that caused your injuries occurred by a car accident, unsafe working conditions, or a defective product, you have the right to file a claim to recover damages in Kentucky. In these claims, you can typically retrieve the following:
- Medical expenses
- Loss of income
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
- Loss of enjoyment of life or companionship
- Punitive damages
Determining the amount of your damages will depend on the extent of your injuries and the level of responsibility and negligence the at-fault party has. Further, the nature of lung burn injuries often has far-reaching implications for you, so it can be harder to quantify what your damages will be in the future. Still, with the help of our experienced Kentucky lung bur injury lawyers, we can help you evaluate your claim and use our extensive network of specialists and experts to get a full and proper accounting of your damages.
Experience and Support From Compassionate Kentucky Lung Burn Injury Lawyers
The unfortunate reality of lung burn injuries is that your life–and the life of your loved ones–that of change. In the short term, you will need ongoing medical care to simply be able to function. But in the long term, simply living your life will be drastically different.
Our team of experienced and compassionate Kentucky lung burn injury lawyers can support you in these extremely difficult time. By helping you file a claim for damages, we can make sure that you at least have some financial satisfaction that holds the at-fault party somewhat accountable. A lung burn injury case in Kentucky is never ideal, but at Kaufman & Stigger, we can make the process a little bit easier.
Contact us today for a free consultation if you would like to discuss your options.
