Carrying auto liability insurance is an important responsibility as a driver. Unfortunately, not all California drivers have this kind of insurance. You might fear that an uninsured driver could hit you in an auto collision, leaving you without a way to collect compensation for damages. This is where uninsured motorist coverage can make a difference.
As Nerdwallet explains, drivers can purchase uninsured motorist coverage to add to their auto insurance policy. Even if an uninsured driver hits you, your uninsured coverage can cover your vehicle damages and medical bills up to the policy limits of the coverage.
The uses of uninsured motorist coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage is usually not expensive, so buying a policy might not financially burden you. In fact, you may save yourself tens of thousands of dollars if you experience a car crash. For instance, while you may have your own health insurance, your uninsured coverage may help pay for longer term costs that your health insurance might not cover.
Uninsured coverage may also help you in the event of a hit and run. If someone collides with you and then drives away, you might never find out who the other driver was, so you will not be able to hold the driver responsible for your injuries. In this situation, your uninsured coverage may step in and compensate you for damages.
Uninsured coverage takes different forms
If you think you have uninsured coverage, be certain that it covers the personal injuries of yourself and your passengers as well as property damage. Uninsured motorist coverage comes in two kinds of policies. Uninsured motorist bodily injury covers your medical costs while uninsured motorist property damage will pay for damage to your vehicle or other property you cover in the policy.
Hopefully, you will never have to deal with a serious auto accident, especially if the other driver lacks insurance. Still, preparing yourself for such a situation may save you a lot of money and stress if an irresponsible driver does hit you.
A surgical site infection is a common type of hospital-acquired infection. This means that you contracted it at the hospital while you were receiving treatment. Incising the skin to perform surgery makes you vulnerable to bacteria, and the risk of a surgical site infection increases if hospital personnel failed to properly sterilize equipment or wash their hands prior to surgery.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of a surgical site infection include fever, drainage from the wound and pain or redness at the site of your surgery. There are things that you, as a patient, can do to protect yourself from infection at the surgical site. There are also steps that hospital personnel should take to protect you.
What can you do to prevent surgical site infection?
It is often necessary to remove hair from the surgical site prior to the operation. However, shaving with a razor increases the risk of infection. Do not use a razor to shave the site prior to surgery and ask questions if someone else tries to do it at the hospital.
Tell your doctor about any medical problems you have prior to surgery as some of these can affect healing. You can decrease your risk of infection by quitting smoking prior to the surgery. After the procedure, learn how to change your dressings and make sure your hands are clean before touching the site.
What steps do hospitals take to prevent SSI?
There are thousands of bacteria living on the skin. As part of the preoperative preparation, the surgical team should clean the skin of the site to remove germs and scrub their own hands with an antiseptic agent. They may give you antibiotics prior to surgery to prevent infection, but this is not always medically necessary. If it is necessary to remove hair from the site prior to surgery, they should do so using electric clippers rather than a razor.
While it may be possible to treat a surgical site infection with antibiotics, you may have to undergo a second operation to resolve the symptoms.
