ABSTRACT
Traumatic events can lead to serious physical injuries, and serious physical injuries can lead to significant traumatic stress reactions. Serious physical injuries usually require transportation via ambulance to an emergency department (ED), initial ED assessment of life-threatening and non-life-threatening injuries, treatment disposition, hospital admission, surgical and nonsurgical treatment, rehabilitation, postdischarge hospital follow-up, and outpatient follow-up in primary- and specialty-care settings. Events that involve physical injury can contribute to significant psychological distress by virtue of the parameters of the injury-causing event, the seriousness of the physical injuries sustained in the event, or the degree of functional and lifestyle compromise that result from physical injuries.
