Mechanism of Injury

Authors: Lily Stanley, Alan Laverty / Editor: Tadgh Moriarty / Codes: / Published: 01/08/2023

As emergency physicians we rely on prehospital care practitioners to relay information about the mechanism experienced by injured patients. Prehospital teams have a unique insight into how an injury occurred, and what forces were applied. It is important this information is accurately passed onto hospital teams to help guide ongoing patient care.

Understanding mechanism of injury is a crucial aspect of managing patients who have suffered traumatic injuries. This module aims to provide an overview on attaining this information and its translation into patient care.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the significance of mechanism of injury in contributing to an assessment of probable injury severity.
• Know the relevant questions to gather information about mechanism of injury.
• Know which injury patterns are typically associated with common mechanisms of injury.
• Understand the common pitfalls when reading a scene or interpreting mechanism of injury and how to avoid these.

References

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