ORGANIZING AN EFFICIENT TRAUMA TEAM

A prospective analysis of 207 trauma patients, from three internationally recognized trauma centres, showed that trauma teams in which staff carry out allocated tasks simultaneously have the quickest resuscitation times. This finding was further tested by introducing these changes into a fourth centre. A comparison of resuscitation stage times was made in 26 patients before and 24 patients after the introduction of the organizational changes. Significant time reductions were found in all the stages, except the time taken to examine the patient. The time taken to complete the resuscitation was reduced by over half from 122 to 56 min. Significant time reductions applied even when variations in the type of patient, the team size or seniority of the team leader was taken into account. Recommendations for the organization of trauma teams are made.