TRAUMA

Trauma is clearly a major medical and social problem in the U.S. To a large extent, however, it is being neglected by physicians, hospital administrators, government officials and the general public. Data from several parts of the country show that death from trauma has a trimodal distribution: immediate deaths, early deaths, and late deaths. When the death rate is plotted as a function of time after injury, three peaks appear in the resulting graph showing this trimodal distribution. In this article the pathology of each peak is discussed in greater detail, with particular reference to the prospects for reducing the rate of mortality and disability resulting from the associated set of medical conditions.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00368733
• Corporate Authors:

  Scientific American Incorporated

  415 Madison Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10017
• Authors:
  • Trunkey, D D
• Publication Date: 1983-8

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 28-35
• Serial:
  • Scientific American
  • Volume: 249
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Scientific American Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0036-8733

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Disasters and emergency operations; Fatalities; Hazards and emergency operations; Injuries; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Death rate; Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00385717
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-035 909
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: May 30 1984 12:00AM