Trauma Care
Injury does not make an appointment. Road accidents, falls and crush injuries arrive without warning, and the assessment has to cover the whole patient rather than the obvious wound. Imaging sits beside the resuscitation area, and theatre is on the same floor.
- Whole-patient assessment, not just the visible injury
- CT and X-ray beside resuscitation
- Emergency theatre at any hour
- Orthopaedic and general surgery together
Stay
Hours to several days
Duration
Assessed immediately on arrival
Anaesthesia
As required
About Trauma Care
Trauma assessment follows a fixed order for a reason: airway, breathing, circulation and neurological state come before the injury that is bleeding most visibly. Missed injuries are the classic failure in trauma care, so the examination is systematic and repeated. Imaging is arranged early because internal injury is frequently silent at first.
- Assessment follows a fixed order to avoid missing injuries
- The examination is repeated, because injuries declare themselves over hours
- Internal injury is often silent at first
- Pain relief is given early rather than withheld
Before you read on
Everything here is general information about trauma care. Whether it suits you, and how it would be done in your case, is a decision for your doctor after examining you.
Your consultant's instructions always take precedence over anything written on this page.
When is it recommended?
Situations in which a doctor may suggest trauma care.
- Road traffic injuries
- Falls, including falls from height
- Fractures and dislocations
- Deep wounds and lacerations
- Crush and industrial injuries
- Head injury needing assessment
- Burns needing surgical review
Procedure details
The usual sequence, from first consultation through to follow-up.
Primary survey
Airway, breathing, circulation and conscious level are assessed and treated in that order, before anything else.
Imaging
X-rays and CT as needed, done in the department rather than at another location, so you are not moved while unstable.
Secondary survey
A systematic head to toe examination looking for injuries not obvious at first, repeated as the picture develops.
Treatment
Wound care, fracture fixation, or emergency surgery depending on what is found, with pain relief throughout.
How to prepare
What to sort out before you come in.
- Nothing to prepare, come immediately
- Call 108 for serious injury rather than moving the person yourself
- Do not remove anything embedded in a wound
- Bring the medication list and any allergy information if somebody can
- Tell staff about blood thinners, which change how bleeding is managed
Recovery
What to expect afterwards, and roughly when.
- Recovery depends entirely on the injury and will be explained specifically
- Bone healing usually takes six to twelve weeks, but function takes longer
- Follow the weight-bearing and movement instructions exactly
- Physiotherapy usually begins before discharge rather than after
- Return if pain increases, a wound becomes red or discharges, or a limb becomes numb
Why choose Humayun for trauma
In injury the outcome is set in the first hour, and mostly by how little time is spent moving between departments.
- Imaging beside the resuscitation area, so a scan is not a journey
- Orthopaedic, general surgical and anaesthetic teams called simultaneously rather than in sequence
- An emergency theatre kept available rather than found
- Intensive care in the same building for the patients who need it
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