Acute Evidence of Concussion
The Investigator’s Role in Documenting Acute TBI Symptoms
We would hope that a post-acute diagnostician would look beyond the medical records to find the missing keys to a diagnosis of permanent brain injury with or without acute evidence of concussion. A lawyer, with a background in evidence and interrogation, can often piece together acute evidence of concussion or loss of consciousness or other acute symptoms that is incomplete in the medical records. A specific inquiry about the accident facts, may uncover more evidence than was apparent. The client/patient must be carefully walked through the details of the wreck, covering the details several times, each time focusing in closer and closer to the events around the time of the injury. It is important to get precise as to what is happening just before impact, and after the vehicles have come to rest.
The words: “the next thing I remember,” are a telltale sign of TBI. Can the injured person give a complete history, or are there gap in the narrative? Can the injured person describe the sound of the crash? A motor vehicle crash is an extremely loud thing. It will clearly draw the attention of any passer by. Failure to remember something as loud as the sound of the crash is evidence of the brain or memory not working properly. If there is a gap in memory there is increased probability of brain injury.
A motor vehicle wreck is an extraordinarily intense experience. Memory should be hyper-vigilant. If it is not, then that is additional evidence of concussion. Acute evidence of concussion may not happen immediately after the accident. I may be delayed for hours and in some cases even longer.
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