Paediatric trauma

Abstract

Trauma remains the most common cause of death in childhood after the first year of life. It accounts for considerable morbidity that may extend into adult life at great cost to the community. Despite the scale of the disease, paediatric trauma and injury prevention research attract little funding. International data indicate that children in Australia and New Zealand would benefit from improved injury prevention strategies and the introduction of a more formalized paediatric trauma system. Such a system would need to take account of Australasian geographical and population distribution characteristics, which mandate local provision of expert and immediate care in rural areas. There would appear to be economic and clinical arguments for the introduction of an ambulance trauma bypass system for stable but severely injured children in metropolitan areas with a paediatric trauma centre.