Citation

Petrucelli E. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Q. J. 1982; 4(4): 39-43.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, American Association for Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Road-related trauma is a major health problem that requires the leadership, commitment and involvement of the medical profession. A significant contribution to injury-control efforts has been the development and routine use of injury-scaling systems that can provide meaningful and consistent information on how injuries are sustained, and therefore, how they can be ameliorated or prevented entirely. Injury scaling, or the assessment of the severity of trauma-related tissue damage, has a long history. Not until the mid-20th century, however, when the enormous toll from road-related morbidity and mortality was emphasized, did it become obvious that better methods for studying injuries were necessary. These needs increased in importance with the development of organized emergency medical service systems, and improvements in the training of the medical and paramedical personnel who care for the victims of highway and other trauma.