SAEM Emergency Department (ED) Practice Test 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Exam!

The Injury Severity Score (ISS) is widely recognized as an effective system for quantifying the severity of injuries in trauma patients. It is derived from the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), which classifies and scores injuries based on the anatomical area affected and the severity level, ranging from minor to maximal injury.

The ISS is calculated by taking the highest AIS score from each of the three most severely injured body regions, squaring those scores, and summing them. This approach allows for a comprehensive evaluation of a patient's overall injury burden, which is crucial for determining prognosis, guiding treatment decisions, and facilitating research in trauma care.

While the Glasgow Coma Scale measures a patient's level of consciousness and is essential for assessing neurological status, it does not encompass the full spectrum of physical injuries. The Marshall Classification specifically focuses on head trauma, and the Abbreviated Injury Scale serves as a foundational tool for injury scoring rather than an overall scoring system like the ISS. Thus, the ISS stands out as the most commonly used scoring system for assessing the severity of trauma patients.