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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Trauma and Injuries

Trauma

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

nounCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, trauma means: Physical injury to the body caused by an outside force, such as a road crash, a fall, an assault or an explosion, especially when it is serious.

In Turkish: travma, yaralanma

How it is used

In emergency medicine 'trauma' means physical injury; in psychology it means emotional damage. Hospitals have trauma teams, trauma bays and major trauma centres, and a 'trauma call' alerts the team before the patient arrives. Common types are blunt, penetrating and major trauma.

Example sentences

  1. We've got a major trauma coming in: motorcyclist versus car, ten minutes out.

  2. The trauma team is waiting in resus.

Common collocations

  • major trauma
  • trauma team
  • trauma centre
  • head trauma
  • trauma call
  • blunt traumaInjury caused by an impact with a hard object or surface that does not pierce the skin, as in road crashes, falls and punches.
  • penetrating injuryAn injury in which an object, such as a knife, a bullet or a piece of metal, goes through the skin into the tissues below.
  • mechanism of injuryHow an injury happened and what forces were involved, such as the height of a fall, the speed of a crash or the type of weapon.
  • golden hourThe period, traditionally about one hour, after a serious injury during which fast treatment is believed to give the best chance of survival.
  • head injuryAny injury to the scalp, skull or brain, from a minor bump to a serious brain injury with bleeding or swelling inside the skull.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Trauma and Injuries

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.