TRAUMA CARE BEYOND ATLS®:
FROM OPERATIVE SKILL TO SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
By Dr Timothy Craig Hardcastle, Principal Trauma Surgeon – IALCH, Deputy Director of the Trauma Service, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
INTRODUCTION Trauma is the result of man’s interaction with man and the environment. Trauma remains the second major killer of humankind. Motor vehicle collisions, interpersonal violence and wars are continuously in progress around the world. The relative shortage of healthcare providers and the focus of much of the Health Programs of governments on infectious disease and diseases of lifestyle
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detract from the care provision for this preventable entity. The care of the trauma patient has
undergone major improvements in recent years with the multi-national adoption of the Advanced Trauma Life
«Trauma remains the second major killer of humankind»
Support® program in many developed and developing countries, with improvements in the outcome of the patient surviving to hospital admission. Unfortunately, however, often the results end in the Emergency Room, with little thought given to the further in-hospital care of the patient. This is certainly true of the developing world but is also true for certain parts of the developed world. In mature trauma care environments
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