Minnesota workers’ compensation attorneys serving the injured and disabled throughout Minnesota with offices in St. Cloud, Edina and Brainerd.

Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

What damage can crush injuries cause?

On Behalf of | Sep 8, 2022 | Workers' Compensation

Injuries suffered on the job often end up covered by workers’ compensation policies. This often includes the injuries that most people do not think about, such as crush injuries.

What exactly are crush injuries? What sort of damage could they cause a potential victim, and what should workers understand about them?

The intensity of a crush wound

Medline Plus talks about crush injuries that victims may suffer from. Crush injuries generally occur when one person gets part – or the entirety – of their body pinned beneath or between large and/or heavy objects.

Examples can range vastly and may include things such as a coworker accidentally running over someone’s foot, a worker placing their hand in an unmarked and dangerous part of a conveyor belt, or someone getting trapped below a collapsed structure that was not secured well.

Almost every crush injury is serious no matter how small the area crushed happens to be. Even one crushed finger could potentially result in the loss of that finger if quick treatment does not happen.

Potential effects of crush injuries

If left untreated for too long, crush injury victims can experience extreme side effects. This can include necrosis of the flesh, gangrene, infections, sepsis, and the necessitation of amputation. Organs may also end up getting overworked due to the failure of some, which can lead to more organs shutting down or failing.

In the end, crush injury victims could even go into shock, fall comatose or die. This is why quick treatment is crucial, and why the path to recovery is often a difficult and long one for survivors. Thus, many victims will seek rightful compensation to help cover these expenses.

Archives