A comprehensive trauma programme and management unit offering paediatric services, to cater to the alarming rise in traffic accidents, is being set up by the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre.
The increase in such incidents has resulted in an increase in patients admitted to the centre suffering from trauma, stated Dr John Guy, chairman of the department of surgery.
The centre receives trauma patients transported directly from the accident scene, as well as those transferred from other hospitals. "About two-thirds of our ICU patients come from other hospitals," he noted.
The centre's trauma programme and management system has been modelled on the American College of Surgeons' Trauma Mechanism, Dr Guy explained.
"Every patient who has a significant injury and requires team management is managed according to this scheme. He is seen at the emergency department and, if considered a multiple traumatised patient, is seen by a 'trauma team leader', a senior consultant.
"The team leader will coordinate the care with other consultants, and accordingly move the patient to the ICU, the operating room, or to the hospital."
The centre has a system called the Injury Severity Scale, which helps identify the patient's condition so that treatment can start.
"Every patient is handled in the same fashion, intensity and number of investigations. Patients coming from other hospitals go through the same process because we have discovered that about 40 per cent of them have injuries that have not been recognised."
Dr Brian Brownbridge, chairman of anaesthesiology, said pre-hospital care has improved dramatically, facilitating the job of emergency units. Nevertheless there is a need to improve the relationship between police services and health providers.
"Police have done an excellent job in training their paramedics and nurses. And we are getting to a point where the care people receive when traumatised is reaching North American standards. But we have to integrate more with our trauma team and have better communication."
The doctors also stressed the importance of prevention. Last year there was increased road safety awareness, with the results likely to be seen in future.
The centre plans to open shortly the first paediatric intensive care unit in Abu Dhabi, added Dr William Andrews, chairman of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the centre.
The hospital will likely open the paediatric trauma care unit by the year-end.
Dr William Andrews, chairman of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the centre, said: "There has always been a need for paediatric intensive care in the UAE, and we have been trying to convince the government to fund it since we opened the hospital four years ago.
"We hope to open the unit by the end of this year, if not a unit at least a core of physicians, nurses and equipment that would serve this need."
The ICU currently has 14 beds, but the centre hopes to expand to 20 beds by end-December, subject to added medical and nursing staff availability.
Medical education* The department of anaesthesia has been a leader in producing and establishing airway management and intensive care courses
* Trauma team staff attends courses regularly on an ongoing basis
* The department of surgery will hold a trauma symposium on April 7 at the Officers Club with about 250 people from the UAE to talk about trauma services at the centre
Data about patients* In the US 15 people per 100,000 are killed on the roads, while in the UAE in 2003 the figure was 35 per 100,000 (one-and-a-half times more)
* The majority were males ages between 18 to 40
* The centre has seen a 59 per cent increase in trauma patients from 2002 to 2003
* Patients who required trauma team management numbered 500 Response and treatment
* For every person who dies from trauma at the hospital's ICU, four are severely injured
* Trauma patients make up 27 per cent of admissions at the ICU
* There has been a significant increase in patients with head trauma
* Monitoring of brain pressure linked to head trauma went up by 96 per cent between 2002 and 2003
* Each traumatised patient requires a trauma team of 12 doctors and five to six nurses
Services of the centre* The centre functions with a consultant level of physicians only* Consultants are available in the hospital 24 hours a day* From a surgical point of view, there are orthopaedic, neurosurgical and chest procedures that are not available elsewhere in the UAE* The ICU has a team of physicians working round-the-clock
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