University Medical Center's ABA-verified burn center is the primary destination for severe burn injuries across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico — serving a vast region where oilfield work, agriculture, and industrial operations create significant burn risk every day.
University Medical Center in Lubbock is West Texas's only ABA-verified burn center, and it serves a geographic area larger than many eastern states. Affiliated with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, UMC's burn unit treats burn victims referred from across the South Plains region, including victims of oilfield accidents in the Permian Basin, agricultural machinery fires, and industrial burns from the region's food processing and manufacturing sectors.
As the only ABA-verified burn facility for hundreds of miles, UMC's Burn Center frequently receives the most critical cases from a region where burn risks are high and specialized medical care is scarce. Treatment here indicates that injuries were severe and required the highest level of available care in the region.
The area served by UMC's Burn Center has some of the highest rates of serious workplace burn injuries in the country, driven by the unique hazards of the regional economy:
The Permian Basin — centered in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico — is the most productive oil-producing region in the United States and one of the most productive in the world. Oilfield workers face daily exposure to burn hazards including:
Oilfield burn cases often involve contractor-to-contractor relationships that create complex liability chains. The operator, the drilling contractor, the service company, and the equipment manufacturer may all share fault — and all may have separate insurance policies available to compensate injured workers.
The South Plains agricultural economy — cotton, grain, cattle — creates burn risks from equipment fires, chemical fertilizer and pesticide exposures, grain dust explosions, and anhydrous ammonia accidents. Agricultural workers are among the most underserved populations in personal injury law, but they retain full legal rights when burned due to employer negligence, equipment defects, or dangerous property conditions.
Lubbock and the surrounding area are home to large agricultural processing facilities where steam burns, chemical burns from cleaning agents, and equipment failures create significant burn injury risk for plant workers.
Many burn victims in the Permian Basin region are contract workers — employed by a service company rather than the oil operator directly. This contractual structure is significant in litigation:
The statute of limitations in Texas is 2 years from the date of injury. New Mexico's is 3 years. An attorney familiar with Permian Basin oilfield litigation will know how to navigate both state and federal frameworks.
Potentially multiple parties — your direct employer (if a non-subscriber), the well operator, the equipment manufacturer, the property owner, and other contractors on site. In oilfield cases, the investigation must move fast: accident scenes get cleaned up, equipment gets repaired, and witnesses move to the next job. An attorney with Permian Basin oilfield experience will know how to preserve evidence and identify every responsible party.
Yes — under Texas law, agricultural workers who are injured due to employer negligence, equipment defects, or unsafe property conditions have the same right to pursue personal injury claims as any other worker. Workers' compensation may or may not cover you depending on whether your employer participates. Product liability claims (against equipment manufacturers) and premises liability claims (against landowners) are available regardless of employment status.
Generally, the law of the state where the injury occurred governs the claim. If the accident happened in New Mexico, New Mexico law (including its 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury) likely applies to your personal injury claim, while Texas law governs any claim filed in Texas courts. Cross-state cases require an attorney admitted to practice in both states or comfortable with multi-state personal injury litigation.
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Oilfield and agricultural burn victims are among the most underserved populations in personal injury law — but the law is on your side. A free consultation costs nothing. Waiting could cost you everything.
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