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Evaluation of the Prehospital Management of Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Francis T. McDermott ,
Gregory J. Cooper ,
Philip L. Hogan ,
Stephen M. Cordner  and
Ann B. Tremayne
Francis T. McDermott*
Affiliation:
Co-Chair, Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria-Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine; Honorary Professorial Fellow, Department of Surgery, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria
Gregory J. Cooper
Affiliation:
Operational Manager, Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Victoria
Philip L. Hogan
Affiliation:
Team Manager, Helicopter Emergency Medical Services, Air Ambulance, Victoria
Stephen M. Cordner
Affiliation:
Co-Chair, Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria, Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University; Director, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Melbourne, Victoria
Ann B. Tremayne
Affiliation:
Project Manager, Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria, The Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria
*
Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities, 57-83 Kavanagh Street Southbank, Victoria 3006, Australia E-mail: annt2@bigpond.com.au
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Abstract

Introduction:

This study was undertaken to identify prehospital system and management deficiencies and preventable deaths between 01 January 1997 and 31 December 1998 in 243 consecutive Victorian road crash victims with fatal outcomes.

Methods:

The complete prehospital and hospital records, the deposition to the coroner, and autopsy findings were evaluated by computer analysis and peer group review with multidisciplinary discussion.

Results:

One-hundred eighty-seven (77%) patients had prehospital errors or inadequacies, of which 135 (67%) contributed to death. Three-hundred ninety-four (67%) related to management and 130 (22%) to system deficiencies. Technique errors, diagnosis delays, and errors relatively were infrequent. One of 24 deaths at the crash scene or en route to hospital was considered to be preventable and two potentially preventable.

Conclusion:

The high prevalence of prehospital deficiencies has been addressed by a Ministerial Task Force on Trauma and Emergency Services and followed by the introduction of a new trauma care system in Victoria.

Keywords

advanced trauma life support (ATLS)ambulancebasic trauma life support (BTLS)evaluation studiesfatalitiesprehospitaltraffictrauma management
Type
Research Article
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2005 , pp. 219 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2005

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