After a car accident, you’ll most likely be assessed by an on-scene medical response team before heading to the hospital. You or your loved ones may be worried about head trauma, broken bones, or other lacerations and bruising. While those injuries are definitely causes for concern, not every severe injury is visible.
If you’re in a traumatic accident, there’s a chance your body will go into shock if it isn’t getting enough blood flow. Shock can manifest in emotional and physical types. Emotional shock is often linked to the type of physical shock you are experiencing.
While there are five different types of shock, three of them are associated with car accidents. Cardiogenic shock happens when your heart is damaged to the point it cannot supply a sufficient amount of blood to your body. Hypovolemic shock happens when you experience severe fluid or blood loss, which renders you heart unable to pump enough blood throughout your body. Neurogenic shock is caused by damage to your nervous system.
While the type of shock you experience will depend on your injuries, there are certain symptoms that are experienced across the board.
1) Low Blood Pressure
While low blood pressure is often a contributing factor to the development of shock, it’s important to realize that not every person who has just entered a shock phase will have low blood pressure. Some of the symptoms associated with low blood pressure are nausea, dehydration, and fatigue.
2) Shallow Breathing
Shallow breathing can be an alarming symptom to experience because you’ll feel like your body isn’t getting enough oxygen. This may cause you to breathe faster, resulting in lightheadedness.
3) Clammy Skin
When your body experiences extreme physical exertion in the event of an accident, your body will try to redirect blood flow to your organs. When this occurs, your skin becomes cooler and you might appeal paler.
4) Weak Pulse
A weak pulse is undoubtedly a medical emergency. You pulse is the rate at which your heart beats. If you’re body enters shock and your pulse weakens, you may experience sweaty skin, fainting, chest pain, or shooting pains in your arms and legs.
5) Dizziness
In conjunction with the low blood pressure and shallow breathing, you may begin to feel dizzy or faint when your body goes into shock.
Recovery from a traumatic car accident can be a long process. In the event that your car accident was due to the negligence of another driver, our West Virginia car accident injury lawyers are prepared to represent you. Contact our office today.
