Glossary of Terms

Acute care treatment (of injury victims) – includes medical services provided in clinics, doctors’ offices, and hospitals (emergency, trauma, surgery, intensive care services) to diagnose and treat injuries.

Alliance – A close and friendly association between two or more individuals or entities based on common interest and an agreement that the involved parties will act in a certain way in order to advance a common interest, aim or goals.

Emergency response (for injuries) – includes services and programs that provide response to injuries between the time an injury occurs and the time acute care services take over. Examples are bystander first aid, 911 systems, police, fire and ambulance response.

Injury – any specific and identifiable bodily impairment or damage resulting from acute exposure to thermal energy (e.g. burns or scalds); mechanical or kinetic energy (e.g. collisions, cuts and falls); electrical energy (e.g. electrocution); chemical energy (e.g. poisoning or chemical explosions); or the absence of essential energy such as heat or oxygen (e.g. hypothermia or suffocation). Injuries may be unintentional (falls, burns, poisoning, choking, motor vehicle-related injuries) or intentional (assault, suicide, suicide attempts, family violence, child abuse, homicide)

Injury control - The term ‘injury control’ includes preventing injuries as well as minimizing the negative consequences of injuries that occur. It includes injury prevention as well as emergency response, acute care treatment, and rehabilitation of those affected by injury.

Injury prevention - The term ‘prevention’ means taking advance measures against something possible or probable. Injury prevention includes efforts, strategies, and actions aimed at reducing the likelihood of injury events from occurring.

Rehabilitation (of injury victims) – includes services involved in bringing those affected by injury to a condition of health or useful constructive activity. Examples are physical, occupational, and speech therapy, home care and home support services, vocational and income support services, mental health services, counseling services, and long term institutional care.

Strategy – a high level, systematic, deliberate, logical, and goal-oriented framework or plan that identifies critical direction, specific goals, and methods to achieve the goals through a course of action or sequence of steps subject to monitoring and modification.