Trauma systems, triage, and disaster management

Abstract

Appreciation of the magnitude of the health burden posed by traumatic injury, in terms of lives lost, disabilities, and economic cost, dates to the landmark publication Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society, published by the National Academy of Sciences in 1966.1 The concept of a network of trauma centers is an extension of a larger trauma system approach to what has been termed a public health epidemic.2 Such efforts culminated in the passage by the U.S. Congress of the Trauma Care Systems and Development Act (PL 101-590) in 1990, which, although not renewed in 1995, provided public funds to spur planning and development of model trauma systems. The development of such regional systems has provided substantially the most significant improvement in the care of the injured during the past two decades.3 © 2008 Springer New York.