Prehospital Care for Road Traffic Injury Victims

• Published in: Journal of emergencies, trauma and shock trauma and shock, 2024-07, Vol.17 (3), p.166-171
• Main Authors: Mathew, Alphonsa, Varghese, Salish, Chathappan, Rajeev Punchalil, Palatty, Babu Urumese, Chanchal, A B Vijay, Abraham, Siju V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ambulance transport; Emergency medical care; emergency medical service; Original; prehospital care; road traffic injury; safety; Traffic accidents & safety; Trauma; Trauma care
• ISSN: 0974-2700; 0974-519X
• DOI: 10.4103/jets.jets_139_23

Prehospital capabilities are inadequately developed to meet the growing needs for emergency care in most low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to describe the prehospital care received by the road traffic injury (RTI) victims presenting to a level I Trauma Care Center in Central Kerala, India. This was a hospital-based prospective observational study, which included consecutive victims of RTI attending the emergency department within 24-h of the event. A structured interview schedule was developed for collecting the data on various domains and the patients were followed up for their duration of hospital stay. A total of 920 RTI victims, were included in this study. Two percent (17/920) of first responders had some sort of training in trauma care whereas the rest were untrained. The time taken to get any help at the scene after an RTI was 8 ± 12.9 min (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.16-8.84) and for first medical contact 25 ± 16 min (95% CI 24-26). No attempt at field stabilization occurred in any case. Three percent (26/920) had received some form of prehospital care, like arrest of hemorrhage using a compression bandage and splinting of the fractured limb with a wooden plank. None of the patients received supplemental oxygen, airway management, or cervical spine immobilization at the site of the accident or en route to the hospital. A lack of an organized prehospital care system results in minimal care before hospital admission. Urgent establishment of ambulance services and structured prehospital care tailored to our health-care system is imperative.