ISS
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | International Space Station |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Science & Engineering, Medical |
ISS has two meanings. It stands for International Space Station (astronomy & Space) or Injury Severity Score (emergency medicine).
Meanings of ISS at a glance
| # | ISS stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Space Station | Science & Engineering › Astronomy & Space |
| 2 | Injury Severity Score | Medical › Emergency Medicine |
1. International Space Station
Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations
Crewed research laboratory orbiting Earth at about 400 kilometers, built and operated by the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. Continuously occupied since November 2, 2000, it circles the planet roughly every 92 minutes, about 16 times a day.
Example: Tonight the ISS will pass overhead as a bright, steady light moving across the sky for about five minutes.
Assembly began with the Russian Zarya module in November 1998, and the station is about the size of an American football field including its solar arrays. Often cited as the most expensive object ever built, with estimates around 150 billion dollars. NASA plans to retire it around 2030, using a SpaceX-built vehicle to steer it into a remote area of ocean.
2. Injury Severity Score
Medical · Emergency Medicine Abbreviations
Anatomical trauma score calculated by squaring the highest Abbreviated Injury Scale grade in each of the three most severely injured body regions and adding them, giving 0 to 75. An ISS above 15 is often used to define major trauma.
Example: ISS 29: severe chest and liver injuries; admitted to trauma ICU.
Introduced by Susan Baker and colleagues in 1974. Any injury graded 6 (unsurvivable) automatically sets the ISS to 75. It is used in trauma registries and research rather than bedside decisions.
Related abbreviations
More astronomy & Space abbreviations
- HST – Hubble Space Telescope
- HZ – Habitable zone
- IAU – International Astronomical Union
- ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation
- JAXA – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
- JD – Julian date (Julian Day number)
- JPL – Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- JWST – James Webb Space Telescope
See all 83 astronomy & Space abbreviations →
More emergency medicine abbreviations
- HICS – Hospital Incident Command System
- ICS – Incident Command System
- IFT – Interfacility transport
- IHCA – In-hospital cardiac arrest
- KED – Kendrick Extrication Device
- lac – Laceration
- LSB – Long spine board
- LWBS – Left without being seen
See all 97 emergency medicine abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.