Analysis of the efficiency of an emergency network for the treatment of multiple burn victims

to evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted strategy and the care quality for pediatric trauma in the survival of patients attended after a disaster in a city in the interior of Minas Gerais state, compared to the expected results of studies on infant mortality in major burns.

retrospective observational analysis of ten patients who were burned and transferred to a trauma reference center. We used the modified R-Baux score to estimate the expected mortality. We compared the expected mortality predicted by R-Baux score and the actual mortality determined from one-ratio test. We also compared time of post-trauma admission with mortality and burned body surface area with mortality.

mean R-Baux score was 75.2, which means an expected mortality of 5% among major burn patients. However, in this study, mortality in the group of children with large burned body surface area was of 60%, p=0.001, a rate far beyond that expected in literature.

despite the innumerable variables, we consider the hypothesis of the pediatric trauma care infrastructure being inferior than the one needed in the state. This study suggests a greater incentive for public policies concerning pediatric trauma care, prepared referral center, well-established transfer agreements, and optimization of catastrophe plans, in order to reduce morbimortality of patients who survive the first hour after trauma.