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Streamlining pre- and intra-hospital care for patients with severe trauma: a white paper from the European Critical Care Foundation

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European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Major trauma remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed and developing world. In 2013, nearly 5 million people worldwide died from their injuries, and almost 1 billion individuals sustained injuries that warranted some type of healthcare, accounting for around 10% of the global burden of disease in general. Behind the statistics, severe trauma takes a major toll on individuals, their families and healthcare systems. Management of the patient with severe trauma requires multiple interventions in a highly time-sensitive context and fragmentation of care, characterised by loss of information and time among disciplines, departments and individuals, both outside the hospital and within it, is frequent. Outcomes may be improved by better streamlining of pre- and intra-hospital care.

Methods

We describe the basis for development of a multi-stakeholder consortium by the European Critical Care Foundation working closely with a number of European Scientific Societies to address and overcome problems of fragmentation in the care of patients with severe trauma.

Result

The consortium will develop and introduce an information management system adapted to severe trauma, which will integrate continuous monitoring of vital parameters and point-of-care diagnostics. The key innovation of the project is to harness the power of information technologies and artificial intelligence to provide computer-enhanced clinical evaluation and decision-support to streamline the multiple points at which information and time are potentially lost.

Conclusions

The severe trauma management platform thus created could have multiple benefits beyond its immediate use in managing the care of injured patients.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Dan Longrois and Marc Maegele contributed equally to this article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Bichat-Claude Bernard Hospital, Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Paris, University Paris 7, Paris, France

    Dan Longrois

  2. Department of Traumatology, Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Traumatology, Cologne-Merheim Medical Centre (CMMC), Witten/Herdecke University, Cologne, Germany

    Marc Maegele

  3. Iridia Labs, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Hugues Bersini

  4. Digital Health and Care Institute, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    George Crooks

  5. Department of Emergency Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis, Brussels, Belgium

    Ives Hubloue

  6. Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Ann Nowé

  7. Department of Paediatrics, Service of Neonatology and Paediatric Intensive Care, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Peter C. Rimensberger

  8. Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Marc Sabbe

  9. Department of General Surgery, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, UK

    Jonathan Tilsed

  10. Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Jef Vandemeulebroucke & Werner Verhelst

  11. Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center (imec), Leuven, Belgium

    Jef Vandemeulebroucke & Werner Verhelst

  12. Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent

Authors
  1. Dan Longrois
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  2. Marc Maegele
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  3. Hugues Bersini
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  12. Jean-Louis Vincent
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Contributions

The text was written following discussions among members of the European Critical Care Foundation. DL, JLV and MM wrote the first draft. All other authors revised it for critical content. All authors read and approved the final draft.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Louis Vincent.

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The authors have no conflicts to declare related to this manuscript.

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Longrois, D., Maegele, M., Bersini, H. et al. Streamlining pre- and intra-hospital care for patients with severe trauma: a white paper from the European Critical Care Foundation. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 45, 39–48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-018-1053-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-018-1053-1

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