What to do after a slip and fall.

At the scene

1. Stay where you are if you might have a head injury. Otherwise, get out of the immediate hazard area.
2. Photograph the hazard before it is cleaned up. Multiple angles. Include warning signs (or lack of them).
3. Ask the manager for an incident report. Get a copy or photograph it.
4. Identify and get contact info for any witnesses. Adjusters discount your statements; they accept witnesses.
5. Note the time and the names of any employees who responded.

Within 24 hours

1. Get medical care. Urgent care or ER. Tell the provider exactly what happened and every symptom.
2. Send a written preservation-of-evidence letter to the property owner. Demands they preserve surveillance video for the area for the 24 hours before and after the fall.
3. Save the clothing and shoes you were wearing. Defense will argue footwear contributed.
4. Write down everything you remember about the fall. Memory degrades fast.

Within the first week

1. Follow up with your primary care or a specialist as referred. Keep every appointment.
2. Track all expenses — medical, mileage, missed work, prescriptions.
3. Decline to give the property owner's insurer a recorded statement. You owe them nothing.
4. Do not post about the fall on social media. Do not post physical activity for the duration of the claim.

What not to do

• Do not say "I am fine" at the scene. The adjuster will subpoena that statement.
• Do not blame yourself in writing or in recorded conversations.
• Do not sign anything from the property owner's insurer without legal review.
• Do not accept a quick settlement before you have completed treatment.