Table 2

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Inclusion criteria
NISS > 15.

Exclusion criteria
First hospital admission more than 24 hours after injury.

Patients declared dead before hospital arrival, or with no signs of life on hospital arrival and no response to hospital resuscitation.

Asphyxia.

Drowning.

Burn patients should be excluded if the burn represents the predominant injury, or if the patient is treated in a specialised burn unit.

NISS: New Injury Severity Score [43].

Signs of life: Pupillary response, spontaneous ventilation, presence of carotid pulse, measurable or palpable blood pressure, extremity movement, or cardiac electrical activity [51].

Ringdal et al. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine 2008 16:7   doi:10.1186/1757-7241-16-7