Addressing inadequacies in Victoria's trauma system: Responses of the Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities and Victorian trauma services

Objectives:  Victoria's new trauma care system has been followed by reductions in preventable and potentially preventable deaths and in deficiencies contributing to death. This improvement has followed triaging more patients to expanded major trauma services where mortality was already lower rather than to improved results within the major trauma services, metropolitan or rural trauma services or ambulance services, Victoria. The objective of the present study was to identify continuing inadequacies within the individual trauma services and in association with representatives of these services to develop appropriate countermeasures. Methods:  Initially, presentations were made to each trauma service of their fatalities evaluated after introduction of the new trauma system. At separate working party meetings with each service consensus recommendations were finalized and these disseminated to stakeholders. Results:  Recommendations related to the need for Trauma Director/Coordinator appointments at all designated hospitals receiving major trauma, improved facilities and equipment, the trauma team, referral, communications, protocols, a prompting system, education, audit and feedback, infrastructure, staffing, documentation and inter‐hospital patient transfer. Conclusion:  Interaction between the Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities and Victorian trauma services identified continuing deficiencies in the new trauma care system and developed consensus recommendations to target these problems. These require implementation through the State Trauma Committee.