The authors are members of a regional trauma unit dedicated to the care of vehicular collision victims, they have studied the problems associated with modifying and improving the care administered to patients. Quantification of the trauma patient care and the resources required to provide such care has not been available to organizers of ems systems. The ems system at Sunnybrook medical centre in Toronto has therefore over the past seven years, developed an on-line data collection program which facilitates monitoring of these parameters. The on-line program infers that the staff involved with collision victims are responsible for data tabulation. Both the results of and the time required to provide a service are documented. This prospective data collection program is both accurate and cost-effective. Data concerning individual patient care has been collated from appropriate sources to construct an accurate trauma patient profile. The analysis of this information has ensured a sound feedback system to those involved with clinical evaluation or financial planning of the ems system. This paper describes the means of implementation and the functional aspects of a data collection program. Although the data base from the regional trauma unit should be of interest to organizers of the trauma centres, the authors believe that the techniques employed to create the data base are translatable and can be used beneficially by any organization attempting to improve the lot of the motor vehicle collision victims. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 275763.
Abstract