Solutions for Handling Trauma Patients

New equipment for handling trauma patients improves workflow and results in faster diagnosis and treatment.

The equipment consists of five components: a patient transport system, a life-support trolly (LST) that is coupled to the transport system, a treatment table, a flexible x-ray system, and a mobile computed tomography (CT) system. The objective is to help doctors stabilize, diagnose, and prepare seriously injured emergency patients for additional treatment as quickly as possible.

The patient transport system is designed to move an injured patient from the ambulance to the shock room and from there to the operating room (OR) or intensive care unit (ICU). The patient can be examined on any of the treatment tables without being repositioned. The patient transporter is coupled to the LST so that the patient can be continuously monitored during the diagnostic and therapeutic processes. The trolly includes a full set of anesthesiology equipment, including equipment for artificial respiration and monitoring. The patient is connected to the LST via catheters, respiratory tubing, and monitoring cables while on the examination table or patient transporter.

A treatment table called Koordinat ORT is used where radiologists, anesthesiologists, and surgeons can work on the patient simultaneously. The table as well as the ceiling-suspended mobile X-ray system, Veritx MD traum, are part of the trauma system. A mobile CT system can also be used for complete organ diagnostics. All these trauma solutions were developed by Siemens AG (Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany).

"We have introduced the new trauma concept as our first trauma center in 2004. During our first year, out time savings per trauma patient was an average of 30 minutes. By now it has increased to 45 minutes per patient,” noted Dr. Jan. S.K. Luitse, medical director of the emergency department of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam (The Netherlands).




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