Summary of Case 1 Trauma
- Doctors need to understand the underlying physiological, pharmacological, pathological and psychological principles involved in the acute and longer-term care of patients with traumatic injury in order to assess, treat and manage their patient in the most effective way.
- There is no ‘one size fits all’ for the clinical management of any individual, so the approach taken will necessarily be one which takes into account the patient as a whole person [embraces all bio-psycho-social contexts].
- Breaking bad news can be an extremely challenging task for the doctor, and again the approach should be tailored to the patient’s context.
- Public Health interventions are aimed at reducing crash fatalities and casualties using an evidence-based approach. Evidence can be gathered in the form of road crash statistics. Such statistics can inform further research into causality.
- The effects of major trauma such as those caused by a motor vehicle crash may be long lasting for the patient and their friends and family.