Medical Situations with a work injury and immediate treatment.

1. Situation:  If you are seriously injured at work (a fall, hit by a hilo, hit by a crain or other trauma) and your employer will not call 911, and you believe your health is at risk, call 911 yourself or have a witness or coworker call 911.  I have seen a rash or very serious injuries where the employer refuses to call 911 and has the injured worker drive themselves to the work clinic, for example, Concentra.  This is very dangerous.  If you feel in anyway  that you shouldn’t drive, then refuse to drive.  Call 911 immediately.  At the very least if no one at the company will drive you, call a spouse, a friend or 911, but do not get behind the wheel.  The employer may say that you must go the work clinic first, but that is only for non traumatic injuries.

Just because your emplolyer does not want to pay the ambulance bill or hospital bill, is not good reason to put you life at risk.

2.  Situation:  If the employer refuses to send you to Concentra or the work clinic, then go directly to the hospital.  Many go home as they are injured and exhausted and think they will go for treatment the next day, especially if the go the work clinic and the work clinic will not see you because they don’t have authorization.  The problem is that you may never wake up or you could do further damage to yourself.   Go to the ER immediately, don’t sleep on it, or hope the pain goes away.

3.  Situation:  The work clinic indicates that you have a strain or a sprain, that you should go home and take a day or two off of work.  You go home after the work clinic visit, the day of your injury, and you remain in severe pain, something is not right, and you feel awful.  Go to the ER that same day or night.   Don’t necessarily trust the work clinic doctor or staff that its just a sprain or a strain.  Especially if you have hit your head in any way during the injury event.  You may very well need a full work up from an Emergency Room.