Determining whether a TX auto accident results in major medical trauma | DENENA | POINTS
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Determining whether a TX auto accident results in major medical trauma

Conroe injury attorneys explain that healthcare professionals might assign an ISS (Injury Severity Score) to an injured accident victim to help determine the overall severity of the injuries and prognosis for survival. The ISS represents an established medical means for assessing overall trauma severity from an accident or injury. The ISS generally relates closely to hospitality, morbidity, and mortality in victims.

The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS): 

The ISS uses an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) to derive an overall score. The AIS categorizes bodily injury into 9 areas with possible scores from 0 to 6. 0 means that there’s no injury in an area, and 6 equates to a non-survivable and untreatable injury (http://www.aaaml.org/ais/). The 9 AIS bodily injury areas are:

  1. Head,
  2. Face,
  3. Neck,
  4. Thorax,
  5. Abdomen,
  6. Spine,
  7. Upper Extremity,
  8. Lower Extremity, and
    External and other.

The AIS numerical trauma ratings for the bodily areas are:

0 = No injury,
1 = Minor injury,
2 = Moderate injury,
3 = Serious injury,
4 = Severe injury,
5 = Critical injury, and
6 = Maximal (untreatable) injury.

The Injury Severity Score (ISS):

The ISS score builds from the AIS score. Our Conroe injury attorneys point out that the ISS scale only divides the body into 6 areas, which are slightly different from those used in the AIS scale. The ISS regions consist of:

  • The head and neck, including the cervical spine,
  • The face, including the facial skeleton and ears,
  • The chest, including the thoracic spine and the diaphragm,
  • The abdomen and pelvic contents, including the lumbar spine,
  • The extremities and pelvic skeleton, and
  • External.

The ISS takes the highest AIS scores from each of the 3 most severely injured AIS bodily areas. Then it squares those 3 numbers and adds them together. The total of the 3 squared numbers results in the ISS score. Medical professionals define “major trauma” as an ISS score of 15 or above.

For an example, the AIS categories 1 to 3 might contain a 2 for a severe head injury. This gives us a 4 for the ISS head and facial region. The AIS system might also give us a 2 for abdominal injuries, providing a 4 for the corresponding ISS region. Then AIS might provide a 3 for upper extremities, which becomes a 9 for the ISS extremities area. 4 + 4 + 9 = 17. So the patient would be classified as suffering major trauma.

AIS and ISS use in Medical Triage: 

Our Conroe injury attorneys note that the ISS scale ranges from 0 to 75. If any one of the 3 AIS scores for a bodily area is 6, then the ISS score automatically becomes 75. This is because a 6 is considered a non-survivable injury, and further medical care would be of no help to the injured victim.

You might see the value of the trauma scoring system for patient triage in the event of a heavy caseload (3 Trauma 14:187-196, 1974). But you might also perceive that the scoring system is not completely precise, in part due to the different divisions of bodily regions by the AIS and ISS systems.

If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, and you have questions about how to obtain adequate financial compensation to help you pay your expenses from the injury, contact our experienced Conroe injury attorneys for a free and confidential legal consultation. We’re available toll free at 877-307-9500 or through our online contact features.