Major Trauma remains the most common cause of death in patients 16-45 years of age and a major cause of death and handicap in the French population as a whole. The socioeconomic impact is substantial, and Major Trauma patient care is a public health challenge as a result.
To respond to this challenge, reliable data describing Major Trauma care in France is required and such data is currently lacking. Reliable data is a prerequisite for any evaluation and analysis of the complete care process, for an assessment of the adequacy of resources, and to identify both risk and prognostic factors in patients. Simply applying lessons learned in Anglo-Saxon Trauma Systems appears insufficient, as such lessons and resulting recommendations do not take into account the specificities of the French socio-political context or its healthcare system.
This approach is all the more innovative and necessary because of the inherent difficulties of scientific examination in the context of Major Trauma: complex therapeutic strategies and interventions, multiplicity of medical actors, and time pressure all work against strong, prospective, structured, clinical trials. Furthermore, and for the same reasons, the implementation of recommendations from randomised-controlled trials that are published is also a challenge. As a consequence, an urgent need arises to develop alternative tools to evaluate medical strategies, given the substantial mortality and morbidity associated with Major Trauma. Trauma registries and observatories must be the bases for such new tools.
The Traumabase® Group federates French Health professionals who share awareness of the challenge of acquiring and communicating structured Major Trauma data in France. Members are motivated by the desire positively impact upon Major Trauma care results in France - through improved data, innovation, education and research. In this sense the Group is not only an observatory, but a network of committed professionals and a platform for research and emulation.
The principal objectives of the Traumabase® Group are the following:
Describe the epidemiology
· Create and maintain a national observatory of for major trauma. Collect prospective pre- and intra-hospital data on trauma epidemiology and management
· Describe technical resources and strategies deployed in major trauma care, analyse resource allocation and identify inadequacies in French Major Trauma management
· Develop and follow clinical key performance indicators
· Identify patterns and factors that are predictive of morbidity and mortality
Improve major trauma patient care
- Stimulate a health professional network to promote and improve major trauma care in France
- Establish and evaluate predictive scores
- Develop and promote both strategies and guidelines for major trauma patient care
- Promote education and training and share a platform for exchange and collective learning
Research
- Promote and participate in innovative research
- Provide a platform for research and development