Atlanta Personal Injury Law Blog

A car accident has the potential to cause many injuries, such as whiplash. This occurs when your neck is thrashed back and force, often the result of a rear-end crash.

Left undiagnosed and untreated, whiplash can cause additional health concerns in the future. Fortunately, there are a variety of treatment options available, including the following:

• Rest: For the first 24 to 48 hours, it's typically a good idea to rest the injury. After that, too much rest can delay recovery.
• Hot and cold therapy: A heating pad and/or ice can help reduce swelling and improve range of motion.
• Pain medication: This includes both prescription and over-the-counter medications. Your medical team can help you decide which ones are best.
• Physical therapy: As you recover, physical therapy can help improve range of motion and strengthen your neck and back muscles.
• Foam collar: Using a foam collar, such as immediately after the accident, can help keep your neck still. However, using this device for too long can cause more harm than good.

When you entrust your health care to a licensed medical nurse, you expect that he or she will adhere to accepted safety standards and regulations set by Georgia law to help you avoid injury. There's no question that nurses typically have stressful jobs. They work long hours and often have to juggle many tasks at once. If you're on a nurse's list of patients, it's understandable that you expect high quality care.

On the contrary, substandard care can have disastrous effects. In fact, your life itself might be at risk if a nurse is negligent. Medication errors are among the most common types of medical mistakes that occur in this state and throughout the country. It's important to know where to seek support if you fall victim to a nurse's careless or reckless behavior on the job.

You never want to find yourself driving in heavy fog, but there's no way of avoiding it from time to time. While fog is most common during the early morning and late evening hours, it can move into the area at any time.

Here are three tips you can follow to drive safely in foggy conditions:

• Slow down: With limited visibility, you'll want to slow down to ensure that you have enough time to react in the event of an emergency.
• Focus on what's happening around you: This isn't the time to take your eyes off the road. You must concentrate on what's happening around you, including other drivers and potentially dangerous road conditions (such as construction).
• Use your headlights: This increases your visibility of the road ahead. It also helps other drivers, especially those traveling toward you, see your vehicle. The one thing you want to avoid is using your high beams, as this will cause the light to reflect back into your vehicle.

With temperatures on the rise, there's no better time than now to prepare your car for the months to come. Proper preparation will go a long way in keeping your vehicle in good working condition while helping you avoid a roadside emergency or accident.

Here are three ways to prep your car for warmer weather:

• Inspect the cooling system: This is a top cause of summer breakdowns, so it's imperative to protect against this. For example, get into the habit of flushing and refilling your car's cooling system every two years.
• Inspect the tires: Worn down tires, for example, are more likely to burst in hot weather. Just the same, those that aren't properly inflated have a greater chance of giving out and stranding you on the side of the road.
• Pack an emergency roadside kit: From flares to bandages, from water to a flashlight, there are many things you need to keep in your trunk or glove box. These items could save your life if you're stranded on the side of the road during the summer months (or at any other time of the year).