Mike Hancock is the founder of Hancock Injury Attorneys, a former insurance defense attorney, and an AV-Preeminent–rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, with over 35 years of experience practicing personal injury law.
If you’ve been in a car accident in Florida and feel fine, you may wonder if you need to go to the hospital. Don’t assume that you do not need to go to the hospital or seek medical care after a car accident in Florida just because you do not have pain or symptoms immediately after the accident.
Not noticing injuries immediately after a car crash does not always mean you do not need to go to the hospital or seek medical attention immediately after. Delayed car accident injuries are more common than many people realize, and getting checked by a doctor right away can protect your health and legal rights.
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we help car accident victims safeguard their insurance benefits and understand their legal options after a car accident.
The video below helps answer the question of whether you need to go to the hospital right after a car crash and explains the benefits of seeking medical help.
Video Transcript:
You didn't go to the ER right after the crash. Did you kill your case by not doing so?
We often see this in car accident cases where our clients call us and tell us that they haven't gone to the emergency room yet. They tell us that immediately after the accident, they felt a little bit sore, but they didn't feel like they had any life-threatening injuries where they felt they needed to go by ambulance to the emergency room.
And does this kill your case? The short answer is no, but it does have an effect. It's just a logical effect. We go on a spectrum of minor accidents that don't need emergency room care to traumatic accidents where we have a helicopter performing life flight to the trauma center.
When an insurance adjuster looks at your case, they're going to look at how the accident happened, the damages involved in the accident, the damages involved to each car, and whether you sought immediate medical attention. So, does it ruin your case? No. But it does affect the value of your case.
Now, here's what we can add as your lawyer. When you call us, we will assess what your injuries are based upon what you're telling us your symptoms are. We will give you advice on what doctors to go to. That advice might be you should still go to the emergency room. It might be that you should go to urgent care, or it might be that you can follow up with an orthopedic doctor or a chiropractor or a physical therapist after the accident. It all depends on the severity of your symptoms.
We want to make sure that you are getting the proper medical treatment. We can provide that advice not only on where to go, but we also can provide advice on what specific doctors actually have the specialty to treat our clients who've been involved in these types of injuries.
So, does it affect or kill the value of your case? No. But it does have an effect. So, if you are on the fence and you haven't spoken to a lawyer yet and you think you might need to go to an emergency room, I would suggest by all means do so.
And if you don't want to go to the emergency room and take one step down, go to an urgent care that's convenient for you. And then at the very end of that, go ahead and call us. We're happy to give you more help on what you should do immediately after the accident and within the day or two or three after the accident. Those things that you're doing within those few days after the accident can make or break the value of your case.
If you have any more questions, please give me a call at 813-915-1110. I'd be happy to consult with you and answer any questions you might have. The consultation's always free.
Why Injuries Don’t Always Show Up Immediately
After a car crash, certain injuries can take hours or even days to become noticeable. This may lead you to believe you do no need to go to the hospital after a car accident. Delayed car accident injuries often include:
- Whiplash
- Concussions and brain injuries
- Soft tissue injuries (muscle, ligament, and tendon damage)
- Spinal injuries, herniated discs
- Internal bleeding or organ damage
Without early treatment, these injuries can worsen over time. That’s why it’s crucial to go to the hospital after an accident and let medical professionals check for hidden damage, even if you feel okay. If you are wondering whether you need to go to the hospital after a car accident, seeking prompt medical attention can help identify injuries early on and ensue you receive the appropriate treatment.
You Need To Go To The Hospital Because Florida’s PIP Law Requires It
If you are wondering whether you need to go to the hospital after a car accident in Florida, it is important to understand how Florida's Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law works.
Under Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law, you need to go to the hospital or seek some kind of medical treatment within 14 days after a car accident, to qualify for PIP benefits. Under Florida's PIP law, you need to seek medical treatment within 14 days after a car accident to qualify for PIP benefits. This is commonly referred to as Florida's No-Fault 14-Day Rule.
If you experience delayed symptoms but wait too long to decide whether you need to go to the hospital or to see a doctor, you could lose access to PIP insurance benefits that may help pay for:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Other out-of-pocket costs
Delaying medical care could jeopardize your ability to have medical bills or lost wages paid for by insurance coverage. This is one reason why you need to go to the hospital or seek medical attention after a car accident.
If you have been injured in a car accident, deciding whether you need to go to the hospital and seeking prompt medical attention can help protect your health and your ability to access available insurance benefits.
How Medical Records Affect Your Injury Claim
If you’re wondering whether you need to go to the hospital after an accident, seeking medical attention quickly can help with your recovery and protect your legal rights. If you wait too long to get medical care and delayed symptoms appear later, it may be harder to prove the crash caused your injuries.
Immediate medical documentation creates a clear link between the accident and any injuries you suffer. Waiting too long can make it harder to prove your injuries were caused by the crash.
One reason you need to go to the hospital after an accident is because medical records act as evidence of your injuries. Insurance adjusters, judges, and juries may look to your medical records to support your claim of injuries. If you did not seek medical treatment after your accident, and if a complaint of pain or a symptom is not found in your medical records, you may not be able to prove the extent of your injuries.
Prompt medical treatment after an accident and accurate medical records create a clear link between the accident and your injuries, which may strengthen:
- Insurance claims
- Personal injury lawsuits
- PIP (Personal Injury Protection) benefits
The “Adrenaline Effect” After an Accident
After a collision, your body floods with adrenaline. This natural response can temporarily block pain and injury symptoms, which could make you question whether you need to go to the hospital after an accident. It’s the body’s "fight or flight" hormone surges, leading to a temporary masking of pain and a heightened sense of alertness.
Many people don’t realize they’re hurt until hours or days later, once the adrenaline wears off. It’s not unusual for us to take calls from new clients who report they didn’t start to feel pain until the next morning or even days later.
Adrenaline acts as a natural painkiller, temporarily numbing pain and allowing individuals to focus on getting to safety. This "stress-induced analgesia" can be deceptive, as people might not realize the extent of their injuries and the need to go to the hospital. This is one of the key reasons why delayed car accident injuries are so common, and why getting evaluated early is always smart.
Better Safe Than Sorry: When in Doubt, Get Checked
After a car accident, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible, even if you are unsure whether you are injured. Car accident injuries often have delayed symptoms, meaning you may feel fine immediately after the crash but develop symptoms hours or even days later. This may be partly due to the adrenaline released during a traumatic event, which can temporarily mask pain and other symptoms.
Therefore, it is better to be safe than sorry when deciding whether to seek medical attention after an accident, including whether you need to go to the hospital. Prompt medical evaluation can help identify injuries before they become more serious.
Do You need to go to the hospital after an accident?
It may be easier to determine that you need to go to the hospital after an accident if you experience severe pain, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, significant bleeding, or other concerning physical symptoms. These symptoms may indicate a serious injury that requires immediate medical attention.
However, without obvious signs of injury, car accident victims often question whether they need to go to the hospital. If you are unsure, consider visiting an emergency room, urgent care center, or your primary care doctor for an evaluation.
Seeking medical attention after a car accident can give you peace of mind about your health and help determine whether you have injuries that require treatment. Prompt medical care can also help identify hidden injuries and prevent them from becoming more serious.
Getting evaluated by a medical professional after a car accident also creates medical records documenting your symptoms, injuries, and treatment. These records may become important evidence if you later file a personal injury claim related to the accident.
Is it important to seek medical care within 14 days of a car accident?
It is important to seek medical care or decide whether you need to go to the hospital within 14 days of a car accident in Florida. Waiting more than 14 days after an accident to decide whether you need to go to the hospital or seek medical care may impact your personal injury claim.
Seeking timely medical attention, within 14 days of the accident, in Florida, is important for accessing your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. Under Florida's no-fault insurance system, you generally must seek some sort of medical care within 14 days after a car accident to qualify for PIP benefits. Waiting too long after an accident to decide whether you need to go to the hospital or seek medical treatment could affect your ability to recover maximum compensation.
Ultimately, if you are unsure whether you need to go to the hospital after an accident, do not ignore your physical or emotional symptoms of injuries or assume that you have no injuries at all from the crash. You do not always need to go to the hospital immediately after an accident, however, it is important to seek prompt medical care for the reasons explained above.
Not only does seeking medical care help protect your health, it helps protect your legal claim as it documents your symptoms and injuries resulting from a car accident.
Hancock Injury Attorneys is Here to Help
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we understand how confusing it can be to determine whether you need to go to the hospital after a car accident, especially when you do not immediately feel injured. Delayed symptoms can make it difficult to know whether you should seek medical attention, and waiting too long to get checked could affect both your health and your personal injury claim.
If you are unsure whether you need to go to the hospital after a Florida car accident, seeking prompt medical attention can help you understand the extent of your injuries and receive the treatment you need. It can also provide important documentation of your injuries and medical care if you decide to pursue a personal injury claim.
If you’ve been in a Florida car accident, call us today for a free consultation at 813-915-1110. We’re here to help you understand your legal options, navigate the insurance and claims process, and pursue the care and compensation you deserve.