A person in Louisiana might get a minor burn from now to then, for example, by taking something out of the oven or getting a minor sunburn. While these burns may be treatable at home, it is possible to suffer a serious burn injury that requires hospitalization. And, unfortunately, serious burn injuries are all too common in the United States.
According to the American Burn Association, from 2011 to 2015 around 486,000 people went to the emergency room with a burn injury. The main causes of burn injuries include fires, being scalded with hot liquid, touching a hot object, electricity and chemicals. Most burn injuries (73 percent) took place in a person’s home while 8 percent of burn injuries took place in a person’s workplace. Children are often the victims of burn injuries — around 25 percent of burn injuries were suffered by minors age 15 and under.
Burn injuries can even be fatal. In 2016, 3,390 civilians died in fires, including fires in residential buildings, fires in non-residential buildings, vehicle fires and fires occurring in places other than buildings or vehicles. In fact, the American Burn Association reports that one civilian is killed in a fire every two hours and 35 minutes. And, even if a burn injury victim is lucky to survive, he or she could be disabled for the rest of his or her life.
Healing from a severe burn injury can be very painful and can take a long time. A person who suffers a burn injury may find that following the injury their world has been turned upside down. They must adjust to basic activities that they may have taken for granted prior to the burn. If a person’s burn was caused by another person’s negligence, the burn victim may want to determine if they have any legal options for being compensated for the damages they suffered.