title: Assessment of injury severity in patients with major trauma.
abstract: Major trauma centres provide specialised care for patients who have experienced serious traumatic injury. This article provides information about major trauma centres and outlines the assessment tools used in this setting. Since patients in major trauma centres will be transferred to other settings, including inpatient wards and primary care, this article is relevant for both nurses working in major trauma centres and in these areas. Traumatic injuries require rapid assessment to ensure the patient receives prompt, adequate and appropriate treatment. A range of assessment tools are available to assist nurses in major trauma centres and emergency care to assess the severity of a patient's injury. The most commonly used tools are triage, Catastrophic Haemorrhage Airway to Exposure assessment, pain assessment and the Glasgow Coma Scale. This article summarises the use of these assessment tools in these settings, and discusses the use of the Injury Severity Score (ISS) to determine the severity of patient injuries.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester, Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stanford
authors.affiliation: St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suckley
authors.affiliation: Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University of Manchester, Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Twelvetree
authors.affiliation: Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, England.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods*; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Glasgow Coma Scale; ISS; abbreviated injury score; emergency department; injury severity score; major trauma; major trauma centre; pain assessment; trauma care; triage