A traumatic injury can occur in many different ways. The proper way to handle one is in a trauma center, by a trauma surgeon. Accidents, crime and disasters of all kinds can cause traumatic injuries that regular physicians have little experience in treating. The training and experience of a trauma surgeon can be the tool that saves lives.
The Trauma Center
The philosophy of the trauma surgeon is that trauma is a surgical disease that requires an integrated system of specialized care. A trauma surgeon can be found in emergency rooms, trauma resuscitation rooms, operating rooms, intensive care, trauma wards, rehabilitation departments and trauma outpatient clinics. A trauma patient should be evaluated as soon as possible to discover the extent of his injuries and determine the best course of treatment. Often, an event that results in traumas can cause multiple injuries. The first trauma surgeon to see the injured patient has to decide whether immediate treatment is necessary to keep the patient breathing, treat a heart attack, a pre-existing medical problem such as diabetes, or an injury such as internal bleeding. Next is the determination of what kind of diagnostic tests should be used. If an emergency surgical procedure is determined to be needed, the patient has to be stabilized, his blood typed and medical history found if possible to find out if drug allergies exist. Often, more than one trauma surgeon is needed to operate simultaneously on several injuries.
The patient usually received attention from the trauma surgeon in the intensive care unit following surgery because the after-effects of traumatic injury can be as dangerous as any overlooked injuries can be. The trauma surgeon is a specialist in both situations. Rehabilitation and therapeutic follow-up should also be overseen by a trauma surgeon. This specialty is trained in prehospital care (emergency room) to avoid preventable death due to traumatic injury, to oversee the stabilization during early care, to triage patients to set a priority among the injured, set up interdepartmental teamwork, restrict intensive care complications and take charge of rehabilitation. All of these jobs are intended to ensure that a patient can return to a normal life. Because of the serious nature and complicated nature of traumatic injury, the specialty of trauma surgeon is needed. While injuries usually include broken bones, burns and other seemingly ordinary problems, the mixture of injuries and the shock involved in traumatic injury make an impact on the ability of the patient to heal.
