Development of a Comprehensive Approach for Serious Traffic Crash Injury Measurement and Reporting Systems (2021)

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61 11 Appendix A Serious Injury Definitions Survey State Definition of serious injury Alabama The following defines the injury codes that are applied according to the judgment of the reporting officer: / / 1 Fatal. This code will be entered if a victim is pronounced dead at the scene or before the report is completed. If not, one of the other codes will apply. However, if a victim dies later as a result of the crash this code will need to be updated according to the following di-rections. The Department of Public Safety uses a 30 day counting period for traffic fatalities. If a person dies as a result of injuries received in a traffic crash within 30 days of the date of the crash, that victim is considered to be a traffic fatality, and the victim injury type must be updated to Code 1 in this data item. When it is learned that a victim has died after the crash report has been sent to the Department of Public Safety: (1) Call the FARS representative with this information at 334-242- 4427 AND (2) Follow the normal amendment procedure to amend the eCrash given in Item 1.1.1. / 2 Incapacitating. This means that the victim must be carried or otherwise helped from the scene. If the victim needs no help, then either a code 3 or 4 applies even though medical assistance may have been administered at the scene. / 3 Non-incapacitating. If the victim has visible signs of injury, either in a physical or mental sense (e.g., had passed out), but is judged able to walk away from the scene without help, this code applies. The difference between this code and code 4 is strictly in the external evidence of injury. / 4. Not visible but complains of pain. If the victim complains of pain, but there are no visible signs of it, and he or she is able to walk away from the scene of the crash, then this code applies. There is no code for uninjured, in that uninjured occupants are not to be considered in the victim section. There are no codes allowed for 97 or 98 since if a victim is identified some assessment must be made of the severity of the injury according to the classifications given above. Alaska Suspected Serious Injury is an injury other than fatal which results in one or more of the following: / * Severe laceration resulting in exposure of underlying tissues/muscle/organs or resulting in significant loss of blood / * Broken or distorted extremity (arm or leg) / * Crush injuries / * Suspected skull, chest or abdominal injury other than bruises or minor lacerations / * Significant burns (second and third degree burns over 10% or more of the body) / * Unconsciousness when taken from the crash scene / * Paralysis Arizona Incapacitating (Serious) Injury - Any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Often defined as "needing help from the scene." Includes: severe lacerations, broken or distorted limbs, skull or chest injuries, abdominal injuries, unconsciousness when taken from the accident scene. Arkansas (the defiition depends on the object of the exercise - however, the injury definitions are below) / / INJURY SEVERITY LEVELS / / / Fatal Injury (code 1) / Any injury that directly results in the death of a living person within 30 days of a MVC. / / Incapacitating Injury (code 2) / Any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. / Inclusions: / - Severe lacerations / - Broken or distorted limbs / - Skull or chest injuries / - Abdominal injuries / - Unconsciousness at or when taken from the scene / - Unable to leave the scene without assistance / - And others /

62 Survey State Definition of serious injury Exclusions: / - Momentary unconsciousness / - And others / / Non-Incapacitating Injury (code 3) – / Any injury other than a fatal injury or an incapacitating injury, which is evident to observers at the scene. / Inclusions: / - Lump on head / - Abrasions / - Bruises / - Minor lacerations / - And others / Exclusions: / - Limping (the injury cannot be seen) / - And others / California Severe Injury: an injury includes: broken or fractured bones; dislocated or distorted limbs; severe lacerations; skull, spinal, chest or abdominal injuries that go beyond “Other Visible Injuries”; unconsciousness at or when taken from the collision scene; and severe burns. Other Visible Injures: an injury includes: bruises, discoloration, or swelling; minor lacerations or abrasions; minor burns. Complaint of Pain: an injury includes: persons who seem dazed, confused, or incoherent (unless such behavior can be attributed to intoxication, extreme age, illness, or mental infirmities); persons who are limping, or complaining of pain or nausea; any person who may have been unconscious. Colorado We classify ALL Injuries according to our crash report, DR 2447: / / 01: Complaint of Injury / 02: Evident - Non-incapacitating / 03: Evident - incapacitating / Delaware Incapacitating injury per the MMUCC definition Florida Hawaii Hawaii doesn't have any attributes in our Motor Vehicle Accident Report for serious injury. Under "Injury Class" on the "All Persons" page, the Injury Classes are: / None / Possible (any non-visible injury reported or claimed that is not fatal, incapacitating or non-incapacitating injury) / Non- Incapacitating (any evident injury, other than fata or incapacitating) / Incapacitating (any injury, other than fatal, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing prior to the accident) / Fatal (an injury received at the scene of the accident that results in death during or after the accident) / Unknown Idaho All of the injury definitions in Idaho are straight from ANSI D-16: / / 2.3.4 incapacitating injury: An incapacitating / injury is any injury, other than a fatal injury, which / prevents the injured person from walking, driving / or normally continuing the activities the person was / capable of performing before the injury occurred. / Inclusions: / Severe lacerations / Broken or distorted limbs / Skull or chest injuries / Abdominal injuries / Unconsciousness at or when taken from / the accident scene / — Unable to leave the accident scene without / assistance / — And others / Exclusions: / — Momentary unconsciousness / — And others Illinois The serious injury is defined as "A" or "Incapacitated injury" code based on the following severity of injury categories (KABCO) / / K Fatal Injury / A Incapacitating Injury / B Non‐Incapacitating Injury / C Reported, not evident / 0 No Indication of Injury / Iowa Code 2 Incapacitating Any injury other than a fatal injury which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Inclusions: severe lacerations; broken or distorted limbs; skull, chest, or abdominal injuries; unconsciousness; unable to leave the crash scene without assistance.

63 Survey State Definition of serious injury Kansas As applied by officers in the field, it is very subjective. Our coding manual gives the following instructions: "The person’s Injury severity should be listed as the reporting officer observes it to be at the time of the accident: Possible Injury, Non-incapacitating Injury, or disabling injury. If there is uncertainty as to which injury severity code to use, choose P (Possible)." It is defined as: "D - disabling injury (incapacitating): A Disabling injury is any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities he/she was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Includes severe lacerations, broken or distorted limbs, skull or chest injuries, abdominal injuries, unconsciousness at or when taken from the accident scene, or inability to leave the accident scene without assistance." Kentucky Not sure Louisiana Incapacitating/Severe, Non-Incapacitating/Moderate Maine Title 17-A S. 2 defines serious bodily injury as a bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or loos or substantial impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or extended convalescence necessary for recovery of physical health. / / Maine's PAR collects injury degree: fatal, incapacitating, non-incapacitating, possible injury and no injury. Maryland Maryland uses a 5 point scale. 1 - not injured, 2 - possible injury, 3 - injured, 4 - disabled, 5 - fatal. We define serious injury as 4 (disabled, incapacitating). An incapacitating injury is an injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities he was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Massachusetts Fatal, incapacitating, non-incapacitating, possible, no injury, unknown Michigan Incapacitating Injury is a synonym for serious injury in Michigan. Injury is any injury, other than fatal, that prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities which he or she was capable of performing prior to the motor vehicle traffic crash. Minnesota Incapacitating Injury (“A”) / An incapacitating injury is an injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. / / Inclusions: Severe lacerations, broken or distorted limbs, skull or chest injuries, abdominal injuries, unconsciousness at or when taken from the accident scene, unable to leave the accident scene without assistance Exclusions: momentary unconsciousness// Mississippi We use KABCD where K=Killed, A=Life Threatening, B=Moderate, C=Minor and D=No Injury Missouri Missouri's traffic crash report identifies injuries as the following: Fatal, Disabling, Evident-Not Disabling, Probable-Not Apparent, and None Apparent. / Fatal is defined as, "The person was dead or dies within 30 days of the crash from crash-related injuries. / Disabling - The person sustained non-fatal injuries that prevent walking, driving, or continuing activities the person was capable of performing prior to the crash.

64 Survey State Definition of serious injury Transport by ambulance from the scene does not necessarily indicate the individual sustained disabling injuries. / Evident-Not Disabling - The person sustained visible injuries that were neither fatal nor disabling. Montana A serious injury is an incapacitating injury or any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking; driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing. Nebraska Serious injury severity coded as 2 disabling injury - cannot leave scene without assistance (broken bones, severe cuts, prolonged unconsciousness, etc.) Nevada Incapacitating Injury or A-injury. Any injury visible, or diagnosed by a physician, that prevents the injured / party from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities that he/she was capable of / performing prior to the accident. Severe laceration, broken or distorted limbs, unconscious when taken from the accident scene; unable to leave accident scene without assistance. New Mexico K Killed A Incapacitated - carried form the scene B Visible Injury C Complaint of Injury - but not visible O No Apparent Injury New York Our reports use the KABCO severity score. We typically use K and A as serious injury. North Carolina A-injury type (disabling) - Injury obviously serious enough to prevent the person injured from performing his normal activities for at least one day beyond the day of the collision. Massive loss of blood, broken bone, unconsciousness of more than momentary duration are examples. From NC DMV 349 Police Instruction Manual North Dakota Incapacitating Injury - Any injury other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities they were capable of performing before the injury occurred. Ohio On the Ohio crash report, an incapacitating injury (serious injury) is defined as such: "An injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Often defined as "needing help from the scene." Oklahoma Oklahoma classifies injuries as follows: / Fatal ─ any injury that directly results in the death of a living person within 30 days of a MVC; / Incapacitating ─ any injury, other than fatal, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred; / Non-incapacitating ─ any injury other than fatal or incapacitating that is evident to observers at the scene.

65 Survey State Definition of serious injury Oregon Code 2 is used for participants who suffer severe injuries. An incapacitating injury is a non-fatal injury which "prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred". (see ANSI D16.1-1996, page 10, definition 2.3.4) Examples of incapacitating injuries include broken bones, severe bleeding, unconsciousness, etc. Pennsylvania Incapacitating injury, including bleeding wounds and distorted members (amputations or broken bones), and requires transport of the patient from the scene Puerto Rico Injury resulting of a car accident which involves lacerations, severe hemorrhage or bone fractures and requires hospitalization. Rhode Island State of Rhode Island Uniform Crash Report uses a system that is similar to KABCO for injury status: / / 1. Complains of Pain, 2. Non- Incapacitating, 3. Incapacitating, 4. Fatal, 5. No Injury, 6. Unknown / / The definition of "Incapacitating" is not identified, prompting officers to use their own discretion. Texas Incapacitating (A) and Non-Incapacitating (B) level severities Vermont We use the term "Major Crashes" relating to fatal and incapacitating injuries involved in a crash. This is a standard terms we are now using in the SHSP and w/in the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance group. Virginia Visible signs injury, such as bleeding wound, distorted member or had to be carried from the scene Washington Police Traffic Collision Report excerpt: / "Serious injury: Any injury which prevents the injured person from / walking, driving, or continuing normal activities at the time of the / collision." West Virginia The WV Uniform Traffic Crash Report Student Manual defines an “Incapacitating Injury” as “Injury severe enough to require individual to be immediately transported from the scene. Injuries include bleeding wounds, distorted members, etc.” Wisconsin We use the KABCO injury scale. An 'A' (incapacitating) injury is considered a serious injury. It is defined on the crash report as "Any injury other than a fatal injury which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or from performing other activities which he/she performed before the accident." Wyoming Incapacitating Injury - Any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred. Often defined as "needing help from the scene." / Includes: severe lacerations, broken or distorted limbs, skull or chest injuries, abdominal injuries, unconsciousness when taken from the accident scene.