Are trauma services effective?

Evidence of the effectiveness of improvements in trauma services comes from panel reviews of preventable deaths, hospital trauma registry studies and population-based studies [36]. Panel reviews indicate an average reduction of 50% in medically preventable deaths and population-based studies and trauma registry studies show around a 15%-20% or great reduction in mortality as a result of improvements in the trauma care system [51][32][4]. A comprehensive population based study examined the effects of planning of system for trauma management in all 50 states of the United States and found an 8% reduction in overall trauma mortality (including deaths at the scene and having adjusted for various confounding variables) due to improvements. The study found that the effect of the system of trauma managements was not usually evident until 10 years after its implementation and reached a maximum at 16 years [38][39]. More recently, a further study in the US confirmed that the risk of death is significantly lower when care is provided in a trauma centre than in a non-trauma centre [31].