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MEDIA ALERTfrom the American College of Surgeons http://www.facs.org American College of Surgeons Examines U.S. Trauma Care National Press Club WASHINGTON, DC--National leaders in trauma care acknowledge that significant strides have been made toward improving our nation's capability to treat severely injured patients. However, given today's heightened awareness of the importance of being prepared to respond to acts of terrorism, the need for a nation-wide network of coordinated, comprehensive trauma care systems is even more evident. This May marks the 15th anniversary of Trauma Awareness Month, and seems an appropriate time to review the state of the nation's trauma care systems and plan for our future needs. J. Wayne Meredith, MD, FACS, Chair of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma, and John Fildes, MD, FACS, who chairs the panel's subcommittee on the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB), believe federal and state governments must increase their efforts to develop and improve trauma care systems. "Progress has been made over the past decade to reduce death and disability, but much work remains," said Dr. Meredith. "Congress and the states need to invest in systems that allow our communities to maintain maximum emergency preparedness," he added. The College has been an advocate for high-quality care for trauma patients and has developed several tools and programs for surgeons and other providers to use to assess and improve care for severely injured patients. A tool that the College believes will one day increase our knowledge and lead to improved care and effective injury prevention programs is the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB). The largest repository of trauma registry data ever assembled, the NTDB provides information about who becomes injured and how, and about the eventual outcome of each patient's care. For example, it has been known for many years that motor vehicle crashes cause the largest portion of severe injuries in the United States. However, early results from the NTDB hint that there may be other troubling areas where further analysis and prevention is needed. "Where, in the past, trauma experts felt that most injuries involved 'young men who crash and older women who fall,' we are apparently finding a surprising risk of suicide in middle-aged men,'' said Dr. Fildes. "Our data also suggest that the risk of death from injury rises sharply with age," he noted. Information from the NTDB should provide insight into the source, severity, and financial impact of death and disability facing this country in the years ahead. When used in conjunction with an active state trauma system effort, the information will allow hospitals and clinicians to examine trends and allocate resources to minimize the effects of lasting injury, improve patient care, and develop effective injury prevention programs. The trauma community has come to recognize that it takes more than standards of care and equipment to assure that injured patients receive the care they need within the so-called "golden hour." Better results are achieved when the stakeholders come together to plan and to allocate scarce resources, share information, and work to develop a coordinated response. About a decade ago, Congress authorized the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act, which has encouraged the development of the trauma care networks that will be so essential if disaster strikes—and that are important every day in our efforts to reduce unnecessary deaths and disability due to severe injury. "Now more than ever, the nation's emergency response system needs to be hard wired, coordinated, and ready for anything," said Dr. Meredith. "Title XII of the Public Health Service Act created a network to constantly update training, share best practices, and map out improvement strategies to assure best outcomes for the trauma patient." He went on to note that, "National and state leaders should know that there has been improvement as a result of the initial investment, but it is clear that more is needed if we are to be prepared for future uncertainties." The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of surgical patients. With more than 64,000 members, it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. The ACS Committee on Trauma is a field force of literally thousands of ACS members in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It publishes widely recognized guidelines on the resources required for optimal care of injured patients.
Further information on the College's trauma care and injury prevention programs can be found on its Web site at: http://www.facs.org/dept/trauma/index.html. ###### Online May 28, 2003
by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211 |
