Article Text
Abstract
Introduction Each year, the National Ambulance Service (NAS) attends many patients who receive a working diagnosis of trauma but do not meet the full inclusion criteria for the Major Trauma Audit (MTA), hereafter referred to as non-major trauma. This study aims to profile the key characteristics of patients who experience non-major trauma.
Methods We analysed data from the HRB-funded TRAUMA project, which uses combined data from the MTA and NAS electronic Patient Care Reports (ePCR) for 2020 and 2021. We analysed patients with a working diagnosis of trauma who do not subsequently appear in the MTA using descriptive statistics.
Results Based on NAS ePCR data, approximately 42,000 patients in 2020 and 46,000 in 2021 received a working diagnosis of non-major trauma. Of these patients, 48.5% are female with an average age of 61.2 years (SD 26.0), and 51.5% are male, with an average age of 49.2 years (SD 25.5). The most common mechanism of injury was a fall, accounting for 36% of patients, followed by motor vehicle incidents, which accounted for 8% of patients. In total 87.7% of patients were transported to hospital by NAS following a non-major trauma incident, with the most common destinations being: Cork University Hospital (10.0%), University Hospital Limerick (9.5%) and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda (8.1%).
Conclusion Our findings reveal a significant number of trauma cases nationally that require a pre-hospital response but do not meet the inclusion criteria for the MTA. Further analysis will demonstrate the profile of individuals that require a pre-hospital response for non-major trauma. Results are limited by the absence of data from the Dublin Fire Brigade, which handles a significant portion of trauma incidents in Dublin.