Maryland Accident Law Blog
Maryland State Police are investigating a vehicle-related accident that took place Near Clarksburg, Maryland last Friday when a car moving south on northbound I-270 crossed a median, hit a flatbed truck, and caught on fire. The woman was pulled out of the truck and is being treated for life-threatening injuries, including burns.
According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences:
· A burn is defined as tissue damage caused by a variety of agents, such as heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or nuclear radiation. Most common are burns caused by scalds, building fires, flammable liquids, and gases.
· First-degree burns affect only the outer layer (called the epidermis) of the skin.
· Second-degree burns damage the epidermis and the layer beneath it (called the dermis).
· Third-degree burns involve damage or complete destruction of the skin to its full depth and damage to underlying tissues. People who experience such burns often require skin grafting.
· The swelling and blistering characteristics of burns are caused by the loss of fluid from damaged blood vessels.
· In severe cases, such fluid loss can cause shock, requiring immediate transfusion of the patient with blood or a physiological salt solution to restore adequate fluid levels to maintain blood pressure.
· Burns often lead to infection, due to damage to the skin’s protective barrier. In many cases, topical antibiotics (creams or ointments applied to the skin) can prevent or treat such infections. The three topical antibiotics that are most widely used are silver sulfadiazine cream, mafenide acetate cream, and silver nitrate.
· According to the American Burn Association, each year in the United States, 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention.
· Approximately 45,000 of these require hospitalization, and roughly half of those burn patients are admitted to a specialized burn unit. Each year, approximately 4,500 of these people die.
The personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen handles burn injury cases caused by auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, defective products, building fires, electric shock, airplane crashes, and hot water. The firm also handles vehicle-related injuries resulting due to the negligence of another driver. Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for more information.
Accident Shuts Down I-270, wjla.com, October 20, 2006
Fact Sheet: Trauma, Shock, Burn, and Injury: Facts and Figures, NIGMS.com
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