What Is Trauma?

   Trauma has two common meanings. One refers to serious bodily injury, the second is an experience which shocks and has a lasting mental effect (Macquarie Dictionary). The information on this site refers to both physical injuries and the psychological effects that may follow after being seriously injured or witnessing such an event.

   Some examples of events causing traumatic injury:-

   Trauma is a significant source of hospital admissions in South West Sydney, which has one of Australia’s busiest trauma services. Liverpool Hospital is the Major Trauma Service for this area.

   The South West Sydney Trauma Service encounters both major and minor injuries. Major injuries require hospital admission and usually involve more than one part of the body. These injuries may be life-threatening. In the two years from September 1994 to August 1996 there were almost 8,700 hospital admissions due to trauma in South West Sydney alone. Of these 24% were major injuries and 76% were minor injuries. These figures show the extent of traumatic injury in our area.

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