A serious personal injury can have far reaching ramifications for a person’s life. It can create a huge financial burden and debilitating disability. If you injury was caused by the negligence of another party, you may be able to get compensation in court. However, you should know what to do to make your case stronger. Below are seven things you should do after a personal injury accident.

1. Get Medical Assistance

Above all else, after a serious injury, you should be worrying about your own personal health and well-being. If the injury is serious enough, call 911 and wait for EMTs to arrive. If the injury is less serious, ask someone to drive you to the emergency room.

2. Contact the Police

If the accident was the result of another party’s negligence, you should also contact the police. Even if a crime wasn’t technically committed, getting a police report of the incident is extremely important for launching a successful personal injury lawsuit.

3. Get Contact Information from Witnesses

If others witnessed the injury, get their contact information. Having witness testimony can insure that you win a personal injury lawsuit.

4. Make your own Report

You should also make your own report of the accident. Due so as soon as you can and try to include as much detail as possible about exactly what happened. You can do so with a piece of paper or a computer text document as long as you make sure to back up the file.

5. Get a Doctor’s Report

After you have been medically examined, make sure to get a copy of the doctor’s report that documents your injuries. This will be very valuable in regards to filing a lawsuit. On the other hand, if you don’t go to the doctor for your injury and obtain no documentation, your chances are slim to none.

6. Contact Your Insurance Company

If it was a car accident, you should certainly contact your car insurance company right away. However, providing written statements, or recorded ones for that matter, to your insurer before speaking to an attorney about the personal injury is a bad idea.

7. Contact a Personal Injury Attorney

A personal injury lawyer from Portland, one of the keys to winning a personal injury lawsuit is getting a lawyer on the case from the onset. This way, evidence can be collected to prove your case while it’s still fresh.

A serious personal injury can be both terrifying and painful to live through. However, even while you are injured, you need to stay cognizant of what you can do to prove how you were injured later on. If your injury was the result of someone else’s negligence, you should be compensated in a court of law.