Emergency Care Considerations for victims of car accident injuries

Emergency Care Considerations: Why is it important?

Car accident injuries cover a broad range. Many are life-threatening and require emergency care considerations. These situations need to be handled quickly, and only professional emergency care providers are trained and equipped to do that. Here, seconds matter, and even a moment's delay can send the victim to the other side of life.

Thus, for caregivers, it becomes absolutely necessary to understand the types of injuries a victim usually sustains in a car accident. Without knowing that, it is not possible to effectively handle such emergency situations.

Types of car accident injuries: 

The types of injuries listed here range from minor and mild to severe and fatal.

1. Soft Tissue Injuries: Mostly brought about by whiplash, broken glass and torn metal edges, resulting in pain and swelling, which restrict the mobility of the victim depending upon severity.
2. Bone Fractures: Broken bones are a result of the impact created by the colliding masses. Particularly vulnerable are the longbones, the ribs, and the pelvis. 
3. Head/Cranial Injuries: These result mostly from concussions. The more severe types i.e. Traumatic Brain Injuries or TBI-s occur from accidents where the vehicle or vehicles were moving fast and came to an abrupt halt. These kinds of injuries affect cognition, balance and often brings about a loss of consciousness.
4. Spinal Injuries: Injuries to the spine can lead to multiple negative outcomes.  They might result in paralysis, other long-term complications aside. Some body parts may even become totally or partially numb, may develop tingling sensations (due to twitched nerves), or a temporary inability to move the limbs.
5. Internal Injuries: The most critical type, since you won’t get to see anything from the outside. Worst, they might not be readily apparent and neither the internal bleeding. This is extremely fatal since it creates a sense of psychological relaxation until the pain or some other form of discomfort shows up. Over time, as the damage advances, the affected organ will start to give away. When it manifests, it is usually in the form of abdominal pain, shock or plain old bruising.
6. Chest Injuries: Injuries to the chest, including broken ribs or injuries to the lungs, can occur from seatbelt use or impact with the steering wheel or dashboard. The only way you can prevent them is with inbuilt airbags.

Initial Assessment of car accident injuries and stabilising the victim

Prior to providing the care, it is absolutely necessary for the responders to ensure that the spot is free from oncoming traffic, any sort of fire and fire-related hazards and any unstable structure.

The responders must check the airway of the victim and ensure that it’s clear; find out if breathing pattern is okay, the circulation alright, there is no disability or an exposure to toxic substances.

For unconscious and semi-conscious victims, performing the airway management technique through positioning or intubation is a life-saver. If the victim is breathing  in gasps or if breathing is real shallow, supplementary oxygen must be administered to ease the respiratory distress.

Among other emergency care considerations, blood circulation needs to be checked through monitoring of the pulse and stopping any bleeding that’s visible using pressure bandages or tourniquets. However, the response team must be able to find out which amongst the two is appropriate for the victim’s situation.

In case there’s some form of disability resulting from an accident, a quick neurological assessment must be performed. This is usually done using an AVPU (Alert/Verbal/Pain/Unresponsive) scale to determine a victim’s level of consciousness.

At the last stage of primary assessment, the victim must be checked for hidden injuries without defiling his/her dignity. If it’s cold weather, care must be taken so that the warmth is not lost in the process.

Secondary Assessment for Emergency Care Considerations

The primary survey addresses the life-threatening issues arising from an accident while the secondary assessment comprises a Head-to-Toe check-up (to detect bruises, swellings, any sort of deformity and/or trauma). The victim’s blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and oxygen saturation must be monitored at regular intervals.

Gathering medical and other health-related information about the victim is a vital part of the entire emergency caregiving process. Specific care considerations are to be made if there are present soft tissue injuries and will require applying ice packs to the injured spot to reduce pain and inflammation. For worsening symptoms, victim must be kept under observation to find out if further medical intervention is needed. However, for broken bones (fractures), stabilizing with splints or slings can occur only after the affected area is immobilized. This is important as movements shall further damage the injured limb, rib or pelvis.

For Head and Spinal Injuries, care must be taken so that the head or neck doesn’t move. Before shifting the victim elsewhere, a cervical collar with a backboard is a must.

Assessing internal injuries starts with assessing the level of shock a victim is undergoing. If there’s pale skin or a rapid pulse or brain fog present, the victim might require IV fluids to be administered before transporting him/her to a proper medical facility.

Last-minute checks to make a car accident injuries victim comfortable

A swift, compassionate but systematic action is important if you want to save the life of a wounded car accident victim. This can only be provided by trained, emergency care responders whose ongoing training includes awareness of the latest protocols and effective communication with medical teams.