If you have been involved as a pedestrian in a collision with a motor vehicle, your first concern should be your health. The most important thing to remember—this isn’t the time to be brave. Chances are your injuries are severe, so accept that you’ve been injured. Don’t try to shake it off and walk away. If you can’t easily get up and move around under your own power, stay right where you are until emergency medical personnel arrive. They’ll be able to conduct an immediate assessment and determine whether you need to go immediately to the hospital.

Even if you can walk away from the accident, you should immediately seek medical attention, either at an emergency room, an urgent care facility or with your primary care physician. You want to have a thorough examination and have medical professionals carefully document all your injuries. Be sure to tell them about anything that seems out of the ordinary. Don’t focus on the obvious injures—cuts or bruises—and neglect to mention the stiffness in your neck or back.

If possible, gather information from all parties to the accident, as well as any witnesses. If your injuries prevent you from doing that, ask someone else to get contact information, so that your attorney can interview them at a later date. Use your phone to take pictures of anything relevant to the accident—your injuries, any damage to vehicles, the weather conditions, skid marks on the road or roadway defects.

As soon as possible, find an experienced personal injury attorney to represent you. Your lawyer will become your liaison with insurers, helping you get all the benefits to which you are entitled. Your attorney can also help you take the right steps to preserve critical evidence and put together the strongest case for full financial recovery.