Printed from: http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/traumaagency/about/background.cfm on 11/22/2009
| Background on Trauma Care |
| Trauma care in the new millennium |
|
Medical care for victims of trauma has improved greatly over the last half of the 20th century. Developments in military medicine spurred major advancements in the knowledge of trauma care. The concept of getting a trauma patient to definitive care in the shortest possible time, commonly known as the golden hour, became an overriding principle. During this evolution in healthcare, it was recognized that the most severely injured patients are treated most effectively in specialized centers and that providing the best trauma care involves drawing on many resources across a coordinated continuum of care. |
| Trauma System Development |
| Initial trauma legislation enacted in Florida during the last decade
of the 20th century laid the foundation for Florida's trauma system
of care which covers the period from the time of a call to 9-1-1
thru hospital discharge. Chapter 395, Part II, Trauma, Florida Statutes and Chapter 64E-2, Emergency Medical Services, Florida Administrative Code
provide for the
establishment of triage criteria to identify the most severely
injured patients as the basis for determining destination decisions
in the field, an approval
process for trauma centers ( PDF, 683KB ) and trauma agencies, and the ability
to conduct trauma care quality assurance activities confidentially.
In 1999, the Florida Legislature further amended the trauma legislation based on recommendations made in the Florida Department of Health's Trauma System Report ( PDF, 399KB ) . The Trauma Systems Study Committee determined that Florida's trauma system is fragmented, preventing its citizens who required trauma care from timely access to trauma centers. It found that the best way to meet the needs of trauma victims is through an inclusive trauma system. Such a system is the organization of all resources necessary to meet the needs of all trauma victims requiring medical attention in an acute care facility. This recognition that a network of all healthcare providers and facilities with resources to care for trauma patients is not only important to trauma victims' outcome, it is necessary to ensure the best use of resources, so that the intensity of patients' injuries are appropriately matched to facilities with the corresponding level of services. |