Module 2a: Kinematics of Trauma

Question 1

Blunt Trauma results from…?

Answer 1

• Acceleration
• Deceleration
• Compression
• Shearing
• Direct forces

Question 2

What is the most common forces that result in blunt trauma?

Answer 2

Acceleration and deceleration.

Question 3

What are the determinants of trauma?

Answer 3

• Age
• Gender
• Indigenous populations
• Alcohol and other drugs

Question 4

Define Kinematics

Answer 4

The process of looking at the mechanism of injury of an incident to determine what injuries are likely to have resulted from the forces and motion and changes in motion involved; the science of motion.

Question 5

Where does energy originates from?

Answer 5

• Motion
• Chemical
• Electrical
• Thermal
• Radiation

Question 6

What are the 4 laws of physics in relation to kinematic principals?

Answer 6

• Newton’s 1st law of motion: Body remains at rest and a body in motion remains in motion until acted upon by an outside force.
• Law of conservation of energy: Energy is neither created nor destroyed, but changes form.
• Newton’s 2nd law of motion: The force that an object exerts on another object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration

• Law of moving objects: Kinetic energy (E ) is the energy associated with motion and reflects the connection between
weight (mass) and speed (velocity) E = ½m × v 2

Question 7

What percentage of all major trauma in Australia is blunt?

Answer 7

95%

Question 8

What are the 3 common patterns of injury as a result of falls

Answer 8

• Don Juan Syndrome
• Outstretched hands
• Head first

Question 9

What are the phases of MVA?

Answer 9

• The vehicle impacts on another object
• The vehicle occupant decelerates, impacting against protective structures and the vehicle
• The internal structures of the occupant move forward until hitting another structure

Question 10

What are the angles of impact in a MVA?

Answer 10

• Frontal, Rear, Side impact
• Down and under or Up and over
• Rotational impact
• Rollover
• Ejection.

Question 11

What are the pedestrian vs MV phases for an adult?

Answer 11

• Initial impact with bumper of the vehicle –to area of pedestrian in relation to height 
of vehicle (e.g. lower limbs and pelvis in adults)

• The torso rolls onto the hood of the vehicle (and may strike the windshield). Subsequent head, chest, abdominal injuries occur.
• The victim falls off the vehicle and onto the ground, usually head first, with possible cervical spine trauma.

Question 12

What factors impact the pattern of injury in a pedestrian vs MV?

Answer 12

• Nature of the impact
• Vehicle size and speed
• Height and age of the pedestrian

Question 13

What is Waddell’s triad?

Answer 13

The injury pattern for pedestrian (child) vs MV.

• Initial impact occurs on the legs (femur) or pelvis
• Second impact when bonnet/grille impacts into the child’s thorax
• The third impact occurs when the child is thrown downward striking head on
the ground

Question 14

What are compression injuries?

Answer 14

Results from an organ or structure (or part of) being directly squeezed between other organs or structures.

Question 15

What is the pattern of injury for blast injuries?

Answer 15

Primary:

• Blast lungs
• Eardrums rupture and middle ear
• Abdo haemorrhage and perforation

Secondary:

• Penetrating ballistic or blunt injuries
• Eye penetration

Tertiary:

• Fractures and Traumatic amputations
• Closed and open brain injuries
• Blunt and crush injuries

Quaternary:

• Burns
• Injury or incapacitation from inhaled toxic gases

Quinary:
- Illness, injury or disease caused by chemical, biological or radiological substances

Finally:
- Psychological trauma, PTSD.