Trauma care in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is a densely populated urban city in the southeastern part of China. Trauma is the fifth leading cause of death for all ages in Hong Kong and is the second commonest cause of death in those aged below 45. Prehospital care is mainly provided by the Hong Kong Ambulance Command, which is a division of the fire services department. The overall standard of prehospital care is very low as compared with the highly specialized hospital services. Only ten per cent of all ambulancemen attained the basic trauma life support (BTLS) level. All trauma patients are brought to the nearest accident and emergency department. Those who are critically ill are resuscitated in the resuscitation room, while the others are assessed by the triage nurse according to a simple triage system. There is no designated trauma center in the whole territory. All eleven major acute hospitals, which are clustered into eight regions, receive all major trauma patients. Some important changes in recent years include the adoption of the multidisciplinary trauma team concept, advanced training in trauma care for both doctors and nurses and the continuous effort of the government in educating the public about injury prevention in Hong Kong.