7 Critical Actions to Take Within 24 Hours of a Catastrophic Injury

What you do — and what you do not do — in the first hours after a catastrophic injury can shape everything that follows. This is your guide.

A catastrophic injury changes everything — instantly, irrevocably, and often without warning. The term encompasses some of the most devastating injuries a human being can sustain: spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, severe burns, multiple-organ trauma, loss of limbs. Injuries that do not merely interrupt a life, but reshape it permanently.

In the aftermath of such an injury, the people involved — victims, family members, loved ones — are operating in a state of acute shock, fear, and disorientation. The idea of taking deliberate, strategic action can feel impossibly distant from the reality of the emergency room, the phone calls, the waiting.

And yet: the first 24 hours matter enormously. Not just for medical outcomes — though those are the first priority, always — but for the legal and evidentiary record that will determine what justice and security is available to the person at the center of this crisis. Evidence disappears. Statements are made. Processes begin that cannot be reversed.

This guide is for anyone navigating those first hours — whether they are injured themselves or are the family member or friend in the room making decisions. It is not legal advice. It is the knowledge we wish everyone had before they needed it.

1.  Seek Immediate Medical Attention

This is not a suggestion. It is the only priority in the first minutes and hours after a catastrophic injury, and everything else in this guide is secondary to it.

The golden hour

Trauma medicine operates on the concept of the "golden hour" — the critical window immediately following a severe injury in which rapid, expert intervention most dramatically improves survival and long-term outcomes. Brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and internal trauma are all time-sensitive in ways that are not always visible from the outside. Getting to the right level of care as fast as possible is the single most important action in this period.

Seek the highest level of care available

Not all hospitals are equipped to handle catastrophic injuries with equal competence. Level I Trauma Centers — the highest designation in the trauma care system — have specialized teams, equipment, and protocols specifically designed for life-threatening, complex injuries. If the nearest hospital is not a Level I Trauma Center, advocate for transfer to one as soon as the patient is stable enough to be moved. The difference in outcomes between appropriate and inadequate trauma care for severe injuries can be profound and permanent.

Medical documentation begins now

From the moment emergency personnel arrive, a medical record is being created. Every assessment, every intervention, every diagnosis, every notation about the patient's condition on arrival is part of a permanent record that will be critical to any future legal matter. No action is required of the family to initiate this — but it is worth knowing it is happening, and worth ensuring that the medical team has accurate and complete information about how the injury occurred.

Do not dismiss early symptoms

Certain serious conditions — traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, spinal instability, psychological trauma — may not present dramatically in the first hours. A headache, a period of confusion, a sense that something is not quite right — these can be early indicators of conditions whose full significance only becomes clear later. Do not allow early assessments to be treated as final. Insist on thorough evaluation, and document every symptom, however minor it seems, from the beginning.

2.  Document Everything at the Scene

If the injured person is incapacitated — as they often are in catastrophic situations — this falls to whoever is present with them: a family member, a friend, a bystander willing to help. The physical scene of an incident is a source of evidence that exists only once, and only briefly. It should be documented before anything changes.

What disappears quickly

Vehicle positions shift when they are moved for traffic clearance. Weather and road conditions change within hours. Skid marks fade. Debris is swept away. Witnesses disperse. The physical reality of the scene at the moment of impact — the information that tells the story of what happened and why — begins to degrade immediately. Every element documented now is evidence preserved.

How to document effectively

Every smartphone is a documentation device. Take photographs from multiple angles and distances — overall scene, specific points of impact, road conditions, signage, lighting, any defects in the road or equipment involved. Take video where it captures something still photographs cannot. Record the time of each image. Document the weather, the time of day, the visibility. Note the exact location as precisely as possible.

Witness information is invaluable

Witnesses are often the most consequential source of evidence in a serious incident — and they leave. Before emergency personnel clear the scene, identify anyone who saw what happened and obtain their name, phone number, and if possible an email address. Do not ask them to give a statement now. Simply get their contact information and note briefly what they said they observed. Their availability months or years later, when a legal matter is fully engaged, may be decisive.

3.  Notify the Proper Authorities

The creation of an official record is one of the most important things that happens in the aftermath of a serious injury. Official reports — police reports, workplace incident reports, premises liability documentation — are foundational to any subsequent legal matter, and they must be created promptly and accurately.

Different incidents, different requirements

Automotive accidents require a police report — in California, any accident involving injury must be reported to law enforcement. Workplace injuries require immediate notification to the employer and the creation of an employer incident report, as well as notification to California's Division of Workers' Compensation in appropriate circumstances. Injuries on commercial premises — a retail store, a hotel, a restaurant — should be documented through a formal incident report with the property operator before leaving the scene. Aviation incidents trigger mandatory NTSB notification. Each category carries its own specific requirements, and failure to comply can complicate future claims.

Obtain copies of all official reports

As soon as they are available, obtain a copy of every official report generated by the incident. Police reports can typically be requested within a few days of the incident. Workplace incident reports should be requested from the employer directly. Retain all of these — they are contemporaneous records whose accuracy and completeness will matter.

4.  Preserve Physical Evidence

Evidence in a serious injury case is not limited to what was at the scene. The physical objects involved in the incident — and in some cases the victim's own belongings — are part of the evidentiary record. Preserving them carefully, from the outset, protects the integrity of what may later become critical exhibits.

What to preserve

Clothing worn at the time of the incident — particularly if it shows evidence of impact, chemical exposure, or contamination — should be preserved unwashed in a paper bag, not a plastic one. Devices that were involved in or present at the incident, such as a helmet, a seatbelt, a vehicle component, or a piece of equipment, should not be repaired or discarded. Any product that may have failed or contributed to the injury should be set aside and not returned, repaired, or thrown away.

When evidence is in someone else's control

In many serious injury cases, the most important physical evidence — a vehicle, a piece of industrial equipment, a defective product, surveillance footage — is in the possession of another party. This creates a real risk: that party may not preserve it. The legal concept of spoliation — the destruction or failure to preserve evidence — can have significant consequences in litigation, but only if the duty to preserve is established early. One of the first things a specialized attorney will do upon being retained is send preservation letters demanding that relevant parties retain all potentially relevant evidence. The sooner that action is taken, the more likely it is to protect the record.

5.  Be Cautious About Communications

In the hours and days following a catastrophic injury, there will be people who want to talk to you — or to the person you are advocating for. Not all of them are looking out for your interests. Understanding who to speak with, what to say, and — perhaps more importantly — what not to say, is one of the most consequential areas of conduct in this period.

Insurance companies are not neutral parties

Insurance adjusters — including those from your own insurer — are professionals whose job includes assessing and managing claims costs. They may contact you quickly, sometimes within hours of a serious incident. They may be polite, sympathetic, and genuinely helpful in some respects. But providing a detailed recorded or written statement about the incident to any insurance representative, without the guidance of legal counsel, creates risks that are difficult to undo. Statements made in the acute phase of trauma — when facts are still unclear, injuries are still evolving, and the full picture is not yet visible — can be used in ways that are not in your interest. It is entirely appropriate to say: "I am not ready to make a statement at this time."

Social media is a permanent record

The instinct to share — to update friends and family, to process a traumatic experience through the communities that exist online — is natural and human. But anything posted about an incident, about an injury, or about recovery on any social media platform becomes part of a permanent, searchable record that opposing parties in any future legal matter can and will examine. This includes posts by family members and friends, not just the injured person. A quiet word to those around you — "let's keep this off social media for now" — is a simple and important protective step.

Who you should speak with freely

Your medical team needs complete, accurate information about how the injury occurred and what you are experiencing — tell them everything, without reservation. Speak freely with immediate family members whose support you need. And speak openly and completely with any attorney you consult, whose communications with you are protected by attorney-client privilege. Outside of these contexts, the safest approach is to discuss the details of what happened as little as possible until legal counsel has been obtained.

6.  Begin Assembling Your Medical Team

Emergency trauma care is the immediate priority — but the medical journey of a catastrophic injury extends far beyond the emergency department, and the team that will guide that journey needs to begin assembling as soon as circumstances allow.

The transition from emergency to specialist care

Emergency medicine teams are focused on stabilization and survival. Once the acute phase passes, the pathway to the best possible long-term outcome requires the involvement of specialists — neurologists, neurosurgeons, physiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, burn specialists, rehabilitation medicine physicians — whose expertise is specific to the injury type and its long-term management. Advocating early for specialist involvement, and not accepting a general medicine approach where specialist care is needed, can make a significant difference to outcomes.

Case managers and discharge planners

Most hospitals dealing with catastrophic injuries will assign a case manager or discharge planner — a clinical professional whose role is to coordinate the transition from acute hospital care to the next phase of recovery, whether that is inpatient rehabilitation, a specialized care facility, or home-based care. This person can be an invaluable resource for navigating the medical system, identifying the appropriate level of follow-on care, and connecting families with specialist resources. Engage them proactively.

Second opinions on surgical interventions

For serious injuries that may require major surgical intervention, a second opinion from a specialist at a different institution is not a sign of distrust — it is standard practice in sophisticated medical management. Surgical decisions made in the acute phase of catastrophic injury can have permanent consequences. Where time permits and the patient's condition allows, confirmation from a second expert is worth seeking before major irreversible procedures.

7.  Consult with a Specialized Catastrophic Injury Attorney

Legal counsel is not the first call to make in a catastrophic emergency. It is, however, one that should be made as soon as the immediate medical crisis has stabilized — ideally within the first 24 hours, and certainly within the first few days.

Why specialization matters from day one

Catastrophic injury cases are not general personal injury matters with higher stakes. They are a fundamentally different kind of legal work — requiring technical expertise in the engineering or medical dimensions of causation, familiarity with the regulatory frameworks governing the relevant industry, access to specialized expert networks, and the resources to mount a multi-year litigation effort against well-funded opponents. An attorney who handles fender-benders and slip-and-falls may be excellent at what they do. They are not the right attorney for a spinal cord injury caused by an aerospace component failure.

What an attorney can do that you cannot

A specialized attorney retained in the early days of a catastrophic injury case can take actions that protect the legal record in ways a layperson cannot: sending preservation letters to all parties who may possess relevant evidence, conducting an early scene investigation before conditions change, issuing subpoenas for surveillance footage before retention periods expire, and beginning the expert engagement process while memories and evidence are fresh. The difference between retaining counsel on day one and retaining counsel three months later, in terms of what evidence remains available, can be substantial.

Early attorney involvement prevents costly mistakes

Many of the most damaging mistakes in catastrophic injury cases happen in the first days and weeks — before an attorney is involved. Recorded statements to insurers. Social media posts by family members. Evidence that was not preserved. Treatment decisions that were not documented. An experienced attorney engaged early does not simply prepare for eventual litigation. They actively protect the case from the errors that can undermine it before it has properly begun.

Why X-Law Group for a Catastrophic Injury Case

We built X-Law Group around a specific conviction: that the most serious injury cases require a different kind of law firm. Not larger. Different.

Technical expertise where it matters most

Our managing partner's background in aerospace engineering is not an unusual credential for a law firm — it is a foundational one for ours. When we evaluate a case involving an aircraft system, a vehicle defect, a trucking accident, or a product failure, we bring engineering literacy to the analysis that most attorneys simply do not have. We understand how systems fail, what standards apply, and where the accountability lies. That understanding changes every aspect of how a case is built and fought.

Accessible from the moment you need us

Catastrophic injuries do not happen on business hours, and neither do the decisions that matter in their immediate aftermath. We make ourselves available for consultation when the situation calls for it — because the questions that need answering in the first 24 hours are real, and they deserve real answers from people who know what they are talking about.

Relationships that serve your recovery

Over years of practicing at the highest level of catastrophic injury litigation, we have built relationships with medical specialists, life care planners, rehabilitation experts, and care coordinators who are the best in their fields. When we bring these relationships to bear on behalf of a client — connecting them with the right specialist, facilitating a second opinion, coordinating between legal and medical teams — we are doing something that a general practice attorney simply cannot replicate.

Personal attention, not assembly-line representation

We are four attorneys and nine specialists. We take fewer cases by design, so that each receives the depth of attention it deserves. When you call, we answer. When you have a question, we give you a real answer from the attorney who knows your case. When you walk into our office — or when we walk into yours — you are the reason we are there.

The First 24 Hours Can Define the Years That Follow

A catastrophic injury is one of the most overwhelming experiences a human being can face. We know that. We have sat with people in hospital waiting rooms, in living rooms turned into medical facilities, in offices where the full weight of what has happened is still settling in. We do not underestimate what this moment demands of the people living it.

What we can offer is this: the seven actions described in this guide are not an additional burden on people who are already carrying too much. They are a framework — a set of deliberate, protective choices that can be made in pieces, by different people, over the course of a difficult day. Each one matters. Together they create a foundation for the medical recovery, the legal process, and the long-term future that the person at the center of this crisis deserves.

If you are in the middle of this right now, or if you are preparing for a consultation and want to understand your situation more clearly — we are here. There is no cost to that conversation, and no obligation that follows it. Just honest, experienced guidance from people who have been doing this work, at the highest level, for a long time.

You do not have to navigate this alone.

About X-Law Group P.C.

X-Law Group is a boutique catastrophic personal injury and class action law firm based in Los Angeles, California. We specialize in technically complex, high-value cases involving aerospace and aviation, automotive defects, commercial trucking, motorcycle collisions, and product liability. Our managing partner Filippo Marchino brings an aerospace engineering background to a practice built around the intersection of deep technical knowledge and relentless legal advocacy. Our results include a $79 million settlement on behalf of 38,000 households in the Delta Airlines fuel dumping class action. We offer free consultations to individuals and families dealing with the aftermath of catastrophic injury.

Technical Expertise. Personal Touch.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice in any particular situation or circumstance. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and X-Law Group P.C. Every situation is unique, and the law varies by jurisdiction. If you have specific questions about your legal rights following an injury, you should consult with a qualified attorney.