Intensive care bed after a trauma intervention, showing the highly technical equipment of modern hospitals. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for

Treatment of physical trauma is described here and in First aid. First aid is the provision of initial care for an Illness or Injury. For medical guidelines, see Guideline (medical). A medical guideline (also called a clinical guideline, clinical protocol or clinical practice guideline) is a document with the aim of guiding decisions

Physical trauma refers to a physical injury. With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual Injury or bodily injury is Damage or Harm caused to the Structure or function of the Body caused by an outside agent or A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury potentially resulting in secondary complications such as shock, respiratory failure and death. Respiratory failure is a medical term for inadequate Gas exchange by the Respiratory system. Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific

Specialized care

Definition

A body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from accident, injury, or impact. Trauma patients usually require specialized care, including surgery and sometimes blood transfusion, within the so-called golden hour of emergency medicine, the first sixty minutes after trauma occurs. Surgery (from the χειρουργική cheirourgikē, via chirurgiae meaning "hand work" is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental Blood transfusion is the process of transferring Blood or blood-based products from one person into the Circulatory system of another In Emergency medicine, the golden hour is the first sixty minutes after the occurrence of multi-system trauma This is not a strict deadline, but recognizes that many deaths which could have been prevented by appropriate care occur a relatively short time after injury. In many places organized trauma referral systems have been set up to provide rapid care for injured people. Research has shown that deaths from physical trauma decline where there are organized trauma systems.

Techniques

In a prehospital setting, also called the "field", emergency medical technicians, paramedics, specialized nurses, and less trained providers known as 'first responders', use stabilization techniques to improve the chances of a trauma patient surviving the ambulance trip to the hospital. Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital The Emergency Medical Technician ( EMT) exists in many countries and is a health care provider trained to provide prehospital emergency medical care A paramedic is a medical professional usually a member of the emergency medical service, who primarily provides Pre-hospital advanced medical and A nurse is responsible—along with other Health care Professionals —for the treatment safety and recovery of acutely or chronically First responder is a term used to describe the first medically-trained responder to arrive on scene of an emergency accident natural or human-made disaster or similar event This article refers to the medical term For other uses see Stabilizer. An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for Professionals begin performing a primary survey, consisting of assessment of airway, breathing, and circulation (called the "ABC's"). The purpose of the primary survey is to identify life-threatening problems. Ensuring that the injured person is not disabled by unnecessary movement of the spine is paramount, so the neck and back are secured before moving the patient. In Human anatomy, the vertebral column ( backbone or spine) is a column of 34 Vertebrae the Sacrum, Intervertebral Unless the victim is in imminent danger of death, first responders will usually "load and go" transporting the victim immediately to the nearest appropriate trauma-equipped hospital. A trauma center is a Hospital equipped to provide comprehensive Emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries

Upon completion of the primary survey, the secondary survey is begun. This may occur during transport or upon arrival at the hospital. The secondary survey consists of a systematic assessment of the abdominal, pelvic and thoracic viscera, complete inspection of the body surface to find all injuries, and neurological exam. In Anatomy, a viscus (ˈvɪskəs ( Plural: viscera /ˈvɪsərə/ is an internal organ of an animal (including humans in particular an internal A neurological examination is the assessment of sensory neuron and motor responses especially Reflexes to determine whether the Nervous system The purpose of the secondary survey is to identify all injuries so that they may be treated. A missed injury is one which is not found during the initial assessment (for example, as a patient is brought into a hospital's Emergency Department), but rather manifests itself at a later point in time, sometimes with baleful consequences (i. e. , a liver laceration is sometimes missed and a patient sent home, who will abruptly go into shock shortly thereafter. )

The appropriate first aid for a trauma patient is to immediately call for help using the emergency medical service, then treat for shock. First aid is the provision of initial care for an Illness or Injury. Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital Do not move the victim unless failure to do so would create a greater risk to their life (i. e. hazardous chemicals or a spreading fire). Also see wilderness first aid if immediate emergency help is unavailable. Wilderness first aid is the specific discipline of First aid which relates to care in remote areas where Emergency medical services will be difficult to obtain or

In case of traumatic accidents, health care providers use the ABC of life (airway, breathing and circulation) as their primary survey in identifying and assessing the condition of the patient. Airway is considered as the most important factor to be assessed then the breathing and circulation. From this technique the appropriate intervention will be identified immediately and prioritization of action can be done according to the most important aspect to be assessed

Efficacy

Time

See also: Falklands War#Medical

Generally, the earlier a trauma patient can get specialized care, the greater are the chances of survival and recovery. The Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the However, there have been exceptions from this generalization.

For example in the Falklands War the British military lost most of their helicopter support when the Atlantic Conveyor was sunk by an Argentine Exocet, resulting in no fast way to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield. The Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the History The Atlantic Conveyor was a 14950 tonne roll-on roll-off Container ship owned by Cunard. The Exocet is a French -built Anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels submarines and airplanes Therefore any soldiers who suffered wounds lay where they fell in bitterly cold weather for hours with no blood transfusion, surgery or medication available. The opposite scenario was known from the Vietnam War in which wounded U.S. soldiers were usually quickly airlifted from the battlefield, kept warm and given aggressive medical treatment. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. The interesting statistic is that the casualty to fatality ratio in the Falklands War was still significantly lower than in the Vietnam War. Recently there has been some new research into how to treat physical trauma by comparing the different practices and experiences in these military conflicts. It might e. g. indicate that the environment is an important factor. For instance, in cold and barren areas, as around the Falkland Islands, the risk that wounds become infected is smaller compared with warm and humid environments, as in the rainforests of Vietnam. Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially

See also

• Blunt force trauma
• Emergency Medical Services
• Emergency medicine
• Fluid replacement
• Penetrating trauma
• Polytrauma
• Shock
• Surgery
• Trauma surgery

External links

• Trauma.org (trauma resources for medical professionals)
• Emergency Medicine Research and Perspectives (emergency medicine procedure videos)
• American Trauma Society
• Society of Trauma Nurses
• Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (Akuttjournalen (in Norwegian language))
• AO Surgery Reference (medical references search engine)
• Trauma First Aid Kits and First Responder First Aid Kits

• Definitive Surgical Trauma Skills