Introduction of a trauma team to a district general hospital. The Brighton Experience

The response to major trauma in Britain has been demonstrated to be inadequate. One of the suggested approaches to tackling the problem has been the setting up of rapid response trauma teams at district general hospitals. We set up such a team in Brighton and report on its first year of operation. Numbers of patients were not sufficient to draw any firm conclusions, though no dramatic improvement in outcome was evident. Problems in setting up such a team are discussed.