Trauma care in Jamaica. A time for decision.

The high incidence of trauma in Jamaica is well documented. Trauma accounts for approximately 40 per cent of the workload in both the Accident and Emergency Unit and the surgical wards at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The death rates for motor vehicle accidents and homicide in Jamaica are greater than those in developed countries as well as the rest of the Caribbean region. Many of these deaths occur before the patient reaches hospital. Preventative measures and improved pre-hospital care will reduce these deaths and also lessen the burden injuries place on the health service. In hospitals, most preventable deaths occur within the first few hours of admission. An organized system of care which ensures that the right patient is taken to the right hospital at the right time as well as training in Advanced Trauma Life Support should reduce the preventable death rate. Collaboration is needed between health workers and other concerned groups to stimulate an interest in injury prevention and improvement in trauma care.