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Transforming an Academic Military Treatment Facility Into a Trauma Center: Lessons Learned From Operation Iraqi Freedom
Background: To manage the influx of patients with predominately extremity injuries from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), our center was required to transform from a nontrauma academic hospital to a trauma hospital by using a multidisciplinary approach. Study Design: A retrospective chart review was pe...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Open Science Company, LLC
2009
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719496/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19701449 |
Sumario: | Background: To manage the influx of patients with predominately extremity injuries from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), our center was required to transform from a nontrauma academic hospital to a trauma hospital by using a multidisciplinary approach. Study Design: A retrospective chart review was performed of casualties from OIF who were received over 14 months. Results: A total of 313 casualties were received. The average number of admissions was 16 per month, except during November 2004, when there were 88 admissions over 7 days. The mean ISS for all patients was 14.1 ± 10.3. A total of 113 patients (36%) required admission to the intensive care unit for an average of 7.5 ± 5.2 days. The mean interval between injury and arrival in the continental United States was 6.5 ± 4.6 days. Most casualties suffered multisystem trauma, with extremity injuries predominating. The multidisciplinary approach to casualty care consisted of several meetings a week and included everyone involved in caring for these combat casualties. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach transformed an existing medical center into a trauma receiving hospital capable of managing and maintaining a surge in patient admissions resulting in minimal morbidity and mortality. This model further supports a multidisciplinary approach to trauma care and could serve as a guideline for transforming existing medical centers into trauma receiving hospitals to deal with patient overflow in the event of future civilian mass casualties. |
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