Approach to the trauma patient

[Julian]

Injury is the number one cause of death for people aged 1 to 44. In the US, there were 243,039 trauma deaths in 2017, about 70% being accidental. Of intentional injury deaths, more than 70% were due to self-harm. In addition to deaths, injury results in about 43.2 million emergency department visits and 2.8 million hospital admissions annually.
Patients whose injuries are serious but not immediately fatal benefit the most from treatment in designated trauma centers, hospitals that have special staffing and protocols to provide immediate care to critically injured patients. Criteria for such designation (and for the necessity of transport to them) vary by state but usually follow the guidelines of the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma.
Many traumatic injuries are discussed elsewhere in The Manual:

Bone and joint injuries
Spinal cord injuries
Head injuries
Facial injuries
Eye injuries
Genitourinary injuries
Lacerations