Comparison between two mobile pre-hospital care services for trauma patients

OBJECTIVES: Pre-hospital care (PH) in Brazil is currently in the phase of implementation and expansion, and there are few studies on the impacts of this public health service. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of care and severity of trauma among the population served, using trauma scores, attendance response times, and mortality rates. This work compares two pre-hospital systems: the Mobile Emergency Care Service, or SAMU 192, and the Fire Brigade Group, or CB. METHOD: Descriptive study evaluating all patients transported by both systems in Catanduva, SP, admitted to a single hospital. RESULTS: 850 patients were included, most of whom were men (67.5%); the mean age was 38.5 ± 18.5 years. Regarding the use of PH systems, most patients were transported by SAMU (62.1%). The trauma mechanisms involved motorcycle accidents in 32.7% of cases, transferred predominantly by SAMU, followed by falls (25.8%). Regarding the response time, CB showed the lowest rates. In relation to patient outcome, only 15.5% required hospitalization. The average score on the Glasgow Coma Scale was 14.7 ± 1.3; average RTS was 7.7 ± 0.7; ISS 3.8 ± 5.9; and average TRISS 97.6 ± 9.3. The data analysis showed no statistical differences in mortality between the groups studied (SAMU - 1.5%; CB - 2.5%). The trauma scores showed a higher severity of trauma among the fatal victims. CONCLUSION: Trauma victims are predominantly young and male; the trauma mechanism that accounted for the majority of PH cases was motorcycle accidents; CB responded more quickly than SAMU; and there was no statistical difference between the services of SAMU and CB in terms of severity of the trauma and mortality rates.