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THE EMERGENCY CARE OF TRAFFIC INJURY CARE BEFORE HOSPITAL
Author(s) -
Ryan G. Anthony,
Clark Peter D.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1972.tb116563.x
Subject(s) - ambulance service , medical emergency , metropolitan area , crash , emergency medical services , emergency department , medicine , triage , emergency medicine , nursing , pathology , computer science , programming language
An analysis of the emergency care system as it operates for the victims of road crashes in the Melbourne metropolitan area was carried out on a sample of 100 crashes. The research team attended each crash and studied the injuries and treatment of victims at the scene, during ambulance transport and during their stay in the hospital casualty department. This paper reports findings on the role of the public, and of towing, police, fire and ambulance services in providing care at the crash scene. The ambulance service is the most important provider of medical treatment at the scene and during transport. Of the 310 persons involved in the crashes, only 8% received severe or greater injuries. Instances of unsatisfactory treatment were relatively rare (1 in 16). Response times averaged 11 minutes for an ambulance to reach the scene, with an average time of 30 minutes for a patient to be brought to a hospital from the time a call was received. Deficiencies in the emergency care system lie mainly in the area of communications between the ambulance service and hospitals.