Abstract
The care for severely injured trauma patients is a great challenge for all medical professionals involved both in the preclinical and in the clinical course. In spite of the overall high quality of care in Germany, the regional differences remain a demanding task. These differences ground on geographical and infrastructural as well as on variations in personnel and equipment of the hospitals. In September 2006, the German Society for the Surgery of Trauma published the white paper ‘treatment of the severely injured’ recommending the improvement of comprehensive care and postulating the foundation of networks between trauma centres: TraumaNetwork (TNW). The hospitals within the TNW are classified as local, regional or supraregional trauma centres by distinct criteria regarding personnel, equipment as well as admission capacity and responsibility. Furthermore, agreements between the trauma centres and the rescue control units regulate the admission and transfer of patients in a TNW. Until the end of 2012, 595 hospitals have been audited on-site. Preparing for the audit, 54.4 % of the hospitals implemented organisational changes (e.g., interdisciplinary guidelines) while 31.4 % introduced personnel and 14.7 % structural (e.g. X-ray in the ER) changes. In December 2012, the certification process was completed in 37 TNW comprising 14 (5–29) hospitals each. Moreover, cross-border TNW in cooperation with hospitals in Holland, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Austria were established. The TraumaNetwork DGU® audits all hospitals participating in the care for severely injured patients and establishes structured networking links between all the players involved in trauma care. Thirty-seven TraumaNetworks are certified by the end of 2012 covering 80 % of Germany.
Published Version
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