A serious burn is one of the most catastrophic injuries you could suffer in a Florida auto accident. Hundreds of people die each year in fiery crashes, and even if you survive yours, your life likely will be forever changed because of the disfiguring scars that severe burns almost invariably produce.
Your vehicle’s small enclosed space, even if you drive an SUV or other large vehicle, plus the many things inside it that can become hot enough to burn you, combine into a perfect storm of catastrophe.
Burn types
You can and may well sustain all four types of burns in a car crash as follows:
- Thermal burns when you contact the flames themselves or one of your car’s extremely hot interior surfaces
- Scald burns when you contact extremely hot liquids such as gasoline or even spilled coffee
- Chemical burns when you contact caustic substances such as steering fluid, transmission fluid, antifreeze, etc.
- Electrical burns when you contact one of your car’s live wires or a downed power line
Burn degrees
In addition to four types of burns, you also could suffer four degrees of burns. Doctors rank burns from first- to fourth-degree depending on their severity. Unfortunately, fiery car crash victims seldom suffer first- or second-degree burns, the least serious. These types of burns generally result from sunburns.
Instead, you likely will suffer third- or fourth-degree burns in your crash. Both are life-threatening because they cause such damage to your body and both require immediate medical intervention. A third-degree burn not only peels off your skin, but also burns your underlying cells and tissues. In a fourth-degree burn, even your bones receive damage. One of the most frightening aspects of either burn type is that you may not even realize how badly you are injured because you may not feel excessive pain. The reason for this, however, is that these burns destroy your nerves that allow you to feel pain.