FIELD APPLICATION AND RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABBREVIATED INJURY SCALE

THE ABREVIATED INJURY SCALE (AIS); INTRODUCED IN JANUARY, 1968; HAS BEEN WIDELY USE BY THE MEDICAL ENGINEERING ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAMS OF THE NHTSA, BY THE GENERAL MOTORS ADAP, BY THE NATO COUNTRY TEAMS IN EUROPE, AND BY THE AMA PHYSICIAN-POLICE TEAMS. THE EXPERIENCE AND PROBLEMS IN USE OF THE AIS ARE REVIEWED. AN EXTENDED AND REVISED AIS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. VALIDATION STUDIES REVEALED BETTER THAN 80% ACCURACY BY MULTIPLE USERS. THE COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH INJURY SCALE (CRIS) HAS BEEN COMPLETED FOR ALL MAJOR MEDICAL SPECIALTIES. THE CRIS SEPARATES THE VARIOUS CRITERIA (ENERGY DISSIPATION-ED, THREAT TO LIFE-TL, PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT-PI, TREATMENT PERIOD-TP, INCIDENCE-IN) USED WITH VARIABLE QUANTITIES AND FREQUENCIES IN THE AIS. THE CRIS IDENTIFIES AND QUANTITATES EACH SCALING CRITERIA PERMITTING MORE MEANINGFUL AND DETAILED APPLICATION OF THE AIS. /AUTHOR/