TRAUMA LAWS

The First Law of Trauma: Any anomaly in your trauma patient is due to trauma, no matter how unlikely it may seem.

These two basic killers are: hemorrhage and brain injury. The vast majority of the time, a dying trauma patient has either suffered a catastrophic brain injury, or has ongoing and uncontrolled bleeding.

Here’s the 2ND  law:

Your trauma patient is bleeding to death until you prove otherwise. 

Bottom line: Since there is little we can do above and beyond the basics in the ED for severe brain injury, your focus must be on hemorrhage. There are lots of things we can do about that, and the majority involve an operating room. Always assume that there is a source of hemorrhage somewhere, and it just hasn’t shown itself yet. There can be no rest until you prove that the source does notexist. And hopefully, you do that very, very quickly.

3RD LAW OF TRAUMA

The only place an unstable trauma patient can go is to the OR.

Bottom line: By definition, an unstable trauma patient is bleeding to death until proven otherwise (the second law, remember?). Radiation can’t fix that. Neither can playing around in the resuscitation room, unless the bleeding is spraying you in the face. The surgeon needs to quickly figure out which body cavity is the culprit, and address it immediately. And the only place with the proper tools to do that is an operating room.

4TH LAW OF TRAUMA

Even awake, alert, and stable patients die. And it hurts that much more when they do.

Bottom line: You know the diagnosis in this case. And you know what needs to be done. But the awake and alert patient fools us. Fakes us out. Somehow, we equate the ability to talk intelligently with being fine. But evil things can be going on inside that don’t rear their ugly head until it’s too late. Don’t get suckered! Believe your exam, not what the patient thinks they are telling you.

5TH LAW OF TRAUMA

Here’s the fifth law:

A previously healthy child who is in arrest, or nearly so, is a victim of child abuse until proven otherwise.

Bottom line: It’s so easy to go down the sepsis path with sick kids, especially those who can’t talk yet. But healthy children tend to stay healthy, and don’t easily get sick to the point of physiologic collapse. If you encounter one as a prehospital provider, glance around at the environment, and evaluate the caregivers. In the ED, ask pointed questions about the circumstances and do a full body examination. What you hear and what you see may drastically alter how you evaluate the patient and may save their life.

6TH LAW OF TRAUMA

Always look at the image yourself.

Sometimes, the radiologist misses key findings on the image. Sometimes they see them and make a note of them in the body of the report. But they don’t get the clinical significance and don’t mention it in the summary (which is the only thing you looked at, remember?).

Bottom line: Always make a point to pull up the actual images and take a look. You have the full clinical picture, so you may appreciate findings that the radiologist may not. Sure, you may have much experience or skill reading more sophisticated studies, but how do you think you develop that? Read it yourself!