A “trauma call” should standardise the in-hospital response to trauma patients. A trauma team is mobilised to receive the patient. Other services (eg: radiology, blood bank etc) may also be notified.
A mandatory trauma call should be placed if any of the following criteria are met
* if recorded at any time from the point of injury
Discretionary trauma calls
A discretionary trauma call can be considered by a senior clinician based on mechanism, physiology, co-morbidities or a combination of these. Examples include:
Major trauma patients transferred from another hospital to the Emergency Department should be received by the trauma team.
When the Emergency Department is forewarned of the imminent simultaneous arrival of four or more trauma patients, irrespective of their suspected injury severity
First published: February 2018 (Author: Emma Batistich)
Updated April 2021 (Scott Cameron)
Approved by: Northern Region Trauma Network, ADHB, WDHB, CMDHB, NDHB, NRHL, St John
Review due: 2 years