San Diego Burn Attorneys

Welcome to the California Burn Injuries Law website. The San Diego burn attorneys with Casey Gerry created this site especially for people who have suffered serious burn injuries and for their loved ones.

Serious burns are one of the most painful and difficult medical conditions to treat. They require prompt response, and even after the immediate emergency is addressed, the continued risk of infection and damage to tissue and organs means that hospital care and treatment may continue for months. Even with the best medical care, burn injuries can leave a person disabled and disfigured. Everyone who suffers severe burn injuries faces major and disruptive changes in their lives.

On this site you can learn more about how burns heal, and the latest research in burn treatment and rehabilitation. You can also learn about the causes of burns, and the ongoing efforts in burn safety and prevention to reduce the frequency of burn injuries and fatalities. Our section on Frequently Asked Burn Injury Questions offers quick answers to some of your most immediate questions.

A burn is tissue damage caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or nuclear radiation. Most common are burns caused by scalds, building fires, and flammable liquids and gases. No matter what the cause of the burn, the effects on the tissue are the same. Burns are described as first, second, or third degree, depending on the depth to which the burn has penetrated, and the kind of tissue damage sustained. Very severe burns involving damage to organs and bone are classified as fourth, fifth and sixth degree burns.

First-degree burns affect only the epidermis, or outer layer of the skin. A first degree burn usually heals without scarring. Second-degree burns damage both the epidermis and the dermis, the under layer of skin. The risk of infection increases with a second degree burn, because the skin is the body’s protective layer. When skin is damaged or destroyed, the body is more vulnerable to infection.

Third-degree burns involve damage or complete destruction of the skin to its full depth and damage to underlying tissues and organs. People who have suffered third burns frequently need skin grafting, the replacement of destroyed skin with new skin taken from another part of the body.

The swelling and blistering that occur with burns are caused by the loss of fluid from damaged blood vessels. When the burned area is extensive, fluid loss can be great enough to cause shock. When this happens the burn victim requires immediate transfusion of blood or of a physiological salt solution to restore adequate fluid levels to maintain blood pressure. After serious burn injuries, healing aims at preventing infection and minimizing scarring as damaged tissues heal.

Medical researchers have made significant progress in their ability to treat serious burn injuries. Twenty-five years ago, a person with third degree burns covering half the body was not expected to live. Today many patients survive burns that covered 90 percent of the body, albeit with permanent disabilities. The increased survival rate is the result of advances in resuscitation, better wound cleaning and follow-up care, nutritional support, and infection control. Grafting with the patient’s own skin or artificial materials also speed the healing process.

If you or a loved one has recently suffered serious burn injuries, or if you have lost a loved one due to burn injuries, you will want to learn more about your rights. On this site, After a serious burn jury: should you consider legal action offers useful information that can help you think through the new financial realities you face, and your options for funding them.

Many serious burn injuries are the result of defective product or negligence. A manufacturer who builds and sells a defective product, or a landlord or other property owner who is negligent in the maintenance of a property and where that negligence results in a fire can be held financially responsible for injuries. Here are the products that most often lead to fires:

• Portable electric heaters
• Kerosene heaters
• Wood and coal burning stoves and fireplaces
• Cooking equipment
• Upholstered furniture, and bedding and mattresses
• Articles of clothing
• Flammable

If you believe that your burn injuries or your loved one’s burn injuries resulted from a defective product or a property owner’s negligence, you should contact a San Diego burn injury attorney immediately for review of a potential claim. There are deadlines set by laws which regulate the filing of lawsuits, called statutes of limitation, which vary state by state. If the statute of limitations expires, your right to pursue a claim against the entity may be forever barred.