Mitigating Injuries After A Dog Bite
Every injury victim is expected to mitigate their damages. Failure to do so may reduce your personal injury settlement or award because the defendant will argue that some of those damages are due to your own actions. Here are some of the things you need to do to mitigate your injuries after a dog bite:
Seek Medical Care
It is advisable to get medical care for your dog bite even if it seems like a mere puncture wound. This is even more so if you don't know the history of the dog and don't know whether they are healthy. It is not just the wound you need to be worried about; the dog can infect you via germs in their saliva and make you seriously ill. Therefore, if you delay treatment, the dog owner can argue that you contributed to the complications of the bite and they shouldn't pay for treating such complications.
Get First Aid Treatment
Ideally, you shouldn't waste time trying home treatments for your dog bite; you should get medical treatment as soon as possible. However, you should not just sit there while waiting for the ambulance to arrive (if you need one); you need first aid treatment. First aid treatment also becomes handy if you are far from hospitals. Here are some of the first aid measures to take:
- Clean the area with clean warm water
- Don't stop the bleeding; in fact, you should encourage it to bleed to flush out the germs
- Take prescription painkillers if you have some
Furnish the Doctor With All Relevant Information
Once you get to the hospital, the doctor will use the information you will give them plus an examination of the wound to treat. This means the doctor will not be able to give you relevant treatment if you don't furnish them with all the information they need. For example, you should mention all your existing health issues since some of them may worsen after a dog bite. This is especially the case if you are suffering from a disease that has interfered with the strength of your immune system.
Follow Treatment Instructions to the Letter
Lastly, when you do get your treatment, you should follow the doctor's advice to the letter. This is probably one of the best things you can do for your treatment. Don't skip a consultation, take a medicine you are not supposed to take of tie up the wound in a way you are not supposed to. Apart from complicating your treatment, you will also be giving the defendant ammunition to use for their defense.
For more advice about what to do when seeking compensation for a dog bite injury, talk to a lawyer at firms like The Gil Law Firm.
