You have just gotten out of the car following a crash. Your dazed and confused. What do you do now? We all know the basics; call the police, provide insurance information, get teh personal information of the other driver. But what about your body? What about your health?
Many people will feel fine after a collision; just a little sore. Soft tissue injuries (sprains, strains, whiplash) will not become apparent for 24-36 hours after a collision. Just because you feel ok does not mean that you are ok. Everyone, regardless of how they feel should immediatley go for a checkup. First, contact your auto insurance company and report a claim. They will give you a claim number. Then if you are already feeling bad, go the hospital for evaluation. When you arrive, give them your claim number so that you don't have to pay out of pocket (assuming that you are like most people and have medical coverage on your policy). Hospitals only look for the most glaring of injuries so you will want to follow up and make an appointment with your general family doctor following a trip to the hospital. This takes a few days which is why you start off at the hospital. The reason to see a doctor immediatley is two fold. First, you want to make sure you are ok and that you have the greatest chance of making a full recovery. The sooner you see a doctor the better. Second, to persue a personal injury action, the insurance company for the driver at fault will expect to see that you saw a doctor right away. The longer it takes you to see a doctor, the less likely you were in pain and thus the less likely they will give you reasonable compensation.
The bottom line is that you want to know that you are ok and you want to get better. To do that...see a doctor immediately.
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