noun
the sick and wounded; casualties
Collective term for people who are injured or ill, often used in medical, disaster, or military contexts.
災害現場では、まず傷病者の救護が優先される。
At a disaster site, priority is given to the rescue of the sick and wounded.
患者 is a general term for a patient under medical care, whereas 傷病者 emphasizes the state of being sick or wounded, often in emergency or collective contexts.
Compound of 傷 (injury), 病 (illness), and 者 (person). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word follows a common Sino-Japanese pattern for collective terms.