Every day, more than 1,000 people require extensive medical treatment for burn injuries they’ve suffered in Hawaii and across the United States. Typically, burn victims can expect to stay in the hospital one day for every percentage of their body that’s been burned. The costs associated with medical treatment, alone, can exceed six figures and, if a burn is severe, reach into the millions. So, the number of days spent in the hospital can add up, especially when you’re unable to work and your PTO runs out (if you have any to spare).
Many burn injuries are sustained in avoidable accidents, defective products, or because of intentional acts of violence. As a burn injury victim in Hawaii, it’s important to demand compensation when your burns are someone else’s fault. Working with an experienced Hawaii burn injury lawyer at Singleton Schreiber can help you maximize your recovery.
Singleton Schreiber is a nationally acclaimed civil litigation law firm that’s known for fearless, honest representation that yields results. Clients, who work with local lawyers and benefit from our law firm’s national resources, have benefited from over $3 Billion in settlements and jury awards.
We serve burn injury victims across the state of Hawaii. Contact one of our law offices to arrange a free consultation today.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Burn Injuries in Hawaii?
Burns have four primary causes:
- Thermal: contact with hot metals, scalding liquids, and other heat sources that are much greater than the temperature of the skin
- Electromagnetic: exposure to electrical currents
- Radiation: exposure to prolonged, high levels of radiation including ultraviolet rays from the sun or X-Rays
- Chemical: contact with harsh chemicals, often with a high pH, such as acids or detergents
In Hawaii, burns can happen for a multitude of reasons. Most often, burns are the result of fires, explosions, and accidental contact with hot objects.
The most commonly reported cause of severe burn injuries include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- E-scooter accidents
- Pressure cooker accidents
- Instant Pot accidents
- Vape pen accidents
- Exploding lithium-ion batteries
- Defective products
- Hawaii wildfires
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Assault
- Boating accidents
- Maritime accidents
If you or a loved one has suffered severe burn injuries through little-to-no-fault of your own in an accident in Hawaii, call Singleton Schreiber. Our Hawaii personal injury attorneys have decades of experience representing burn injury victims and helping them hold insurance companies, employers, manufacturers, and government agencies accountable for their life-changing injuries.
How Are Burn Injuries Treated?
Different burn injuries will require different courses of treatment. Treatments can vary, too, based on each individual victim.
The type of burn injury you suffer, the part(s) of the body that are affected, and the percentage of your body that’s covered in burns will have the greatest impact on the treatment that’s likely warranted:
First Degree Burns
First degree burns are known as superficial burns and are the least severe type of burn injury because only the outer layer of the skin - known as the epidermis - is damaged. Non-blistering sunburn, for example, is typically a first-degree burn injury. First degree burns tend to heal relatively quickly, often anywhere between one and two weeks.
Treatment: running the burn under cool running water, applying topical ointments, and over-the-counter pain medications as necessary
Second Degree Burns
Second degree burns, or partial thickness burn injuries, penetrate beyond the epidermis into the dermis. Second degree burns tend to appear red and warm to the touch and may cause the skin to blister.
Treatment: rinsing with cool running water, applying antibiotic ointments and bandages, pain medication as needed
Third Degree Burns
Third degree burn injuries, or full thickness burns, damage all layers of the skin and, many times, penetrate into underlying tissue - including muscle and tendons. Severe full thickness burns may also damage the bone underneath the site of the wound. Third degree burns often appear charred or white in appearance and, thanks to nerve damage, can leave victims with a suspicious lack of pain at the burn site.
Treatment: debridement of dead tissue and surgery, including skin grafts, can be appropriate for severe full thickness burns
Fourth Degree Burns
Fourth degree burns penetrate deep into the body’s tissues and damage the bone, as well. These wounds are often blackened and charred and cause extensive damage that, even with treatment, can necessitate amputation.
Treatment: IV antibiotics and pain medication, skin grafts, amputation, other surgical interventions
What Compensation is Available to Burn Injury Victims in Hawaii?
When your burn injuries happen because of a defective product or another party’s negligence, you may have the right to seek compensatory damages through a civil personal injury lawsuit.
Our burn injury lawyers in Hawaii can help you assert a winning legal team to get money for:
- Current and future medical bills
- Lost wages, income, and benefits
- Disability
- Loss of earning capacity
- Nursing assistance
- Rehabilitation
- Therapy
- Property damage
- Funeral expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Emotional distress
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Embarrassment
- Inconvenience
- Loss of consortium
The state of Hawaii only gives you a limited amount of time to seek compensation through a burn injury lawsuit or insurance claim. Typically, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the burn injury or a loved one’s wrongful death.
How Singleton Schreiber Can Help You Fight For Compensation After a Burn Injury in Hawaii
Burn injuries can be incredibly painful and traumatic. You deserve to have the opportunity to focus on your recovery, cope with the reality of your disfiguring injury, and figure out a path forward. Singleton Schreiber can offer the skilled, compassionate legal representation you need to get better and increase the odds of a meaningful financial recovery.
We’re fearless advocates for everyday people, dedicated to standing up to powerful corporations on their behalf when things go wrong. Recognized as leaders in civil litigation by Best Lawyers in America, Law Dragon 500, National Law Journal, and the American Bar Association, we’ve successfully obtained more than $2.5 Billion for clients who’ve suffered burns and other catastrophic injuries.
Don’t settle for less than your burn injury case is worth. Trust our top-rated legal team to fight to get you top results, too. Contact one of our Hawaiian law offices to arrange your complimentary case evaluation today.
