In the video on this page, Georgia workers’ compensation attorney Ty Wilson discusses the process for obtaining medical care for your work injury. Because each situation is specific to you and your injury, you should ALWAYS speak with a Georgia workers’ compensation attorney for answers to your case or claim.
How Do I Receive Medical Care?
Emergency
If you have been injured on the job and if it’s an emergency, you should call 911 to get transported to the hospital. The care of you and your injury is first and foremost. Depending on the nature and severity of your injury, you should take care of yourself and your care first and then concern yourself with communicating with your employer once you are stable. If the incident has others in harm’s way, you obviously want to alert anyone who can address that situation as well.
For example, if you are part of a crew that is working on an electrical line and you are injured, you want to be sure someone else can alert others to any exposure that may cause more injuries. Try to communicate that as soon as you are able to do so. If you are able to speak, you can tell the emergency staff to call someone to the area to secure it.
Non Emergency
If you are injured and it is not an emergency, reach out to your supervisor. Let them know the following:
1. You’ve been hurt and;
2. You need medical care for your injuries.
Your employer should have what is called a posted panel of physicians. That is a list of doctors where you can go if you’re hurt on the job. Not all employers have this but they should. If they do, then the question is, is it what is called a valid posted panel of physicians? That means, it should have all of the legal rules and requirements and fine print for lawyers fight over. It is important. If this is missing or unclear, you should speak with a Georgia Workers’ Compensation attorney.
At our office, we will review panels at no charge. You don’t have to hire us to represent you. We can give you an indication based upon what makes a valid panel so you can decide if this is something you wish to fight. If that’s the case, you may want to hire an attorney.
If you are in the position above or you find yourself in a situation where your employer says they do not believe you are injured, or that they will not provide you medical care, contact us for a review of your situation.
