Pre-hospital Trauma Guidelines and Access to Lifesaving Interventions in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand

Date
2024-01-22
Authors
Andrews, Tim
Meadley, Ben
Gabbe, Belinda
Beck, Ben
Dicker, Bridget
Cameron, Peter
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract

The centralisation of trauma services in western countries has led to an improvement in patient outcomes. Effective trauma systems include a pre-hospital trauma system. Delivery of high-level pre-hospital trauma care must include identification of potential major trauma patients, access and correct application of lifesaving interventions (LSIs) and timely transport to definitive care. Globally, many nations endorse nationwide pre-hospital major trauma triage guidelines, to ensure a universal approach to patient care. This paper examined clinical guidelines from all 10 EMS in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. All relevant trauma guidelines were included, and key information was extracted. Authors compared major trauma triage criteria, all LSI included in guidelines, and guidelines for transport to definitive care. The identification of major trauma patients varied between all 10 EMS, with no universal criteria. The most common approach to trauma triage included a three-step assessment process: physiological criteria, identified injuries and mechanism of injury. Disparity between physiological criteria, injuries and mechanism was found when comparing guidelines. All 10 EMS had fundamental LSI included in their trauma guidelines. Fundamental LSI included haemorrhage control (arterial tourniquets, pelvic binders), non-invasive airway management (face mask ventilation, supraglottic airway devices) and pleural wall needle decompression. Variation in more advanced LSI was evident between EMS. Optimising trauma triage guidelines is an important aspect of a robust and evidence driven trauma system. The lack of consensus in trauma triage identified in the present study makes benchmarking and comparison of trauma systems difficult.

Description
Keywords
lifesaving intervention , major trauma , pre-hospital , lifesaving intervention , major trauma , pre-hospital , 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences , 3202 Clinical Sciences , Physical Injury - Accidents and Adverse Effects , 3 Good Health and Well Being , 1103 Clinical Sciences , 1117 Public Health and Health Services , Emergency & Critical Care Medicine , 3202 Clinical sciences
Source
Emergency Medicine Australasia, ISSN: 1742-6731 (Print); 1742-6723 (Online), Wiley, 36(2), 197-205. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14373
Rights statement
© 2024 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.