Trauma system

THE ISSUE

Alabama is developing a system of patient trauma care that should reduce the number of deaths in major accidents. It's an innovative system that could become a model for the rest of the country.

A trauma management plan that has been used in and around the Birmingham metropolitan area for the past 10 years may be expanded throughout the state.

The Alabama Trauma Advisory Council is meeting to devise a management plan for routing those with traumatic injuries to hospitals best suited to treat them. It appears north Alabama will be the first region of the state to take part in the system once it is implemented because hospitals there - including Helen Keller in Sheffield and Eliza Coffee Memorial in Florence - are better prepared than others.

The state system, which hospitals may participate in on a voluntary basis, is based on the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System, which covers seven counties around Birmingham. Paramedics contact a central office where a decision is made on where to send the patient. The statewide system would continue to use the Birmingham office, but the staff would be expanded and communication equipment upgraded.

Of course, much of the success of a statewide system will depend on the Legislature providing enough money to cover the costs of the expanded communications systems. Estimates for how much money will be needed remain sketchy, but most of the money would go to regional hospitals to install communication equipment.

Most Alabama hospitals are not staffed and equipped to meet the requirements of a trauma center. In fact, the University of Alabama at Birmingham is the only Level I trauma center in the state. Keller and Coffee hospitals are designated Level II trauma centers.

This is an innovative concept that builds on an existing system with proven results. Only 10 percent of injuries hospitals treat are classified as traumatic. In the Birmingham area, deaths from traumatic injuries have been reduced by 12 percent since the regional emergency system was adopted in 1996. That's because patients are more likely to get the treatment they need in the first 60 minutes of being injured - a time period emergency medical professionals call the "golden hour." Emergency treatment in the first 60 minutes after injury greatly improves a patient's chances of survival.

This system is a must-have for Alabama, which has just one Level I trauma center.