Trauma

The need for planning and development of statewide trauma prevention and trauma service systems is or should be a high priority--if one sets priorities on criteria that address important factors such as cost to benefits in reduction of life years lost and reduction of disability and costs of long-term rehab services, etc. Prevention of injury and first class trauma care will lessen our heavy human burdens (loss of life and disability) and reduce our long-term outlays for rehabilitation, etc. Obviously our first line of intervention should be prevention--all educational, regulatory and automatic protectors (seat belts, gun restrictions, air bags) that will lower injury rates. A state trauma system must be planned for the larger universe than individual institutions or communities. We must educate our public that the only practical way to provide services for major trauma is through regionalized systems that they somehow must help support. The recent emphasis on making the health services industry a "competitive market" has discouraged public interest and support for regionalized health systems. Our best chances for funding such systems are probably through user fees, sin taxes and surcharges on fines, etc. We need the elements or principles of a plan and present it to the public and to their representatives in the courthouses, city halls and state capital of our state. We need to generate public discussion and understanding on the problem, the potential for saving lives and preventing disability. To do any less would mean our failure to meet our duties as health professionals and public health officials.