# Re injury severity descriptions like "critical condition" etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243 "2002-12-27T22:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/1 "2002-12-27T22:20:12Z")
What is the complete list of injury severity levels used by hospitals and do they use the same standard from hospital to hospital nationwide? Is “critical condition” in New York the same as “critical condition” in Maryland or does it vary? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/2 "2002-12-27T23:51:47Z")
IMHO it’s up to the admitting, or supervising doctor. I used a plethora of terms on admitting orders, including good, fair, stable, unstable, grave, critical, and pine box at bedside. (I didn’t do that last one more than once). As far as I know, there’s no standard for the med community. But perhaps some hospitalist will come along and demonstrate me to be wrong ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/3 "2002-12-28T00:03:03Z")
Well, [The American College of Emergency Physicians](http://www.acep.org/2,2729,0.html?ext=.pdf) has the linked bit of info on a standardized triage scheme (NOTE: PDF file). It has five levels and has some very specific specifications on what level means what. It would seem that not too long ago levels were different all over the place (I’m not sure this level system has even been adopted but it is an attempt to get everyone on the same page). ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/4 "2002-12-28T00:14:14Z")
When my father passed away recently, the hospital called me and told me that my father was in “grave” condition. Actually, he was already dead, but since I was driving to the hospital, they didn’t want me to be too upset on the ride over. I don’t know if that is SOP in ER situations. ---
**Author:** ![Peregrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Peregrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peregrine)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/5 "2002-12-28T04:12:37Z")
[Durham Regional Hospital](http://dukehealth.org/drh/press_room.asp),[Massachusetts General Hospital](http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/news/for_reporters/patient_conditions.htm), and others make reference to American Hospital Association guidelines. Am I right in thinking that news reports saying someone is in “critical but stable condition” are horribly misusing the language? ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/6 "2002-12-28T06:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peregrine \* > [B > > Am I right in thinking that news reports saying someone is in “critical but stable condition” are horribly misusing the language? \*\* Not usually. Most of the time they report exactly what they’re told by hospital representatives, which can be intentionally vague so as to protect the privacy of the patient, or to spare relatives that might be hearing about the victim for the first time on TV, or because the rep may not know much about the status and is pulling out of his butt 🙂 . critter42 ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-injury-severity-descriptions-like-critical-condition-etc/145243/7 "2002-12-28T07:31:06Z")
A quick search of the SD archives brings us the following helpful Mailbag article on [What does it mean when a patient is in “critical” or “serious” condition?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcritical.html). To wit, > [@](#): > > In short, most of these terms, like so much else in our language, are media expressions that have less to do with the reality of a situation and more to do with allowing a talking head to use simple terms to describe a complex situation.