What is Trauma?
Trauma is a physical wound or injury that can range from being very minor, like a simple cut, to being very major where a person is seriously injured with extensive damage to organs, tissues and bones.
What is a Trauma System?
Until 2000, our province lacked a regionalized trauma system linking the 120 acute care treatment facilities in an organized manner. The University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC) is home to Northern Health's regional trauma program. It is one of eight hospitals chosen as a lead trauma facility and designated as a Level III trauma centre.
A trauma system is an inclusive, regionalized effort organized to deliver and coordinate emergency medical services and hospital resources to provide the highest standard of care to all injured patients. Research has clearly demonstrated that a well organized trauma system will significantly reduce the occurrence of injury, and lead to a marked decrease in both death and disability.
Key Elements Include:
- Pre-hospital triage and transport of trauma patients
- Assessment, resuscitation and treatment
- In-house and outreach trauma education
- Continuous quality monitoring
- Data collection for the BC Trauma Registry
Injury Facts:
- Injury is the #1 cause of death between 1 - 44 years of age
- Injury is the 4th leading cause of death in all age groups
- Injury is the leading cause of potential years of life lost in Canada before the age of 70
- Injuries are NOT accidents; 95% are predictable and preventable
- Injuries cost Canadians $19.8 billion and 13,667 lives in 2004
- Injuries cost BC $2.8 billion and 1,721 lives in 2004 ($670 for every British Columbian)