State to Undergo American College of Surgeons Trauma System Consultation

DENVER - The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced today it has secured funds from the Caring for Colorado Foundation to conduct an American College of Surgeons trauma system consultation that will provide direction for future trauma system improvements. The review will focus on 16 different measures of the effectiveness of a trauma system including system leadership, the availability of emergency medical services, injury prevention and public education. This process has been carried out in states around the country and will use national benchmarks to measure the progress of Colorado’s trauma system since legislation established the system in 1995.

The department’s Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Section Chief Randy Kuykendall said, “This will be an extensive process requiring a significant level of teamwork and effort by our office, the department, the State Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Advisory Council, the 11 Regional Emergency Medical and Trauma Advisory Councils, the Colorado Rural Health Center, the Committee on Trauma (Colorado Chapter), the Colorado Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, trauma personnel from facilities around the state and our other partners in the prehospital and facilities communities.”

Kuykendall said the first step will involve the emergency medical and trauma services community in filling out a pre-review questionnaire. The state can add additional issues to the questionnaire. One issue of particular interest to Colorado is how the trauma system can continue to involve and support rural facilities to provide trauma care to the state’s geographically dispersed population.

After submission of the questionnaire, a team of seven to eight national experts will come to Colorado for the consultative visit. The visit, likely to occur in the spring of 2009, will involve the participation of dozens of stakeholders. “During the visit, the team will provide an overview of its findings and follow up with a full, written report about one month later. The report will prioritize possible interventions to further strengthen the trauma system and offer suggestions about which interventions may provide the greatest gains for the state,” he explained.

Kuykendall added, “This report will serve as a roadmap for future system improvements and will help focus attention on the priorities that can most benefit the people of Colorado.”

For more information, visit www.cdphe.state.co.us/em/traumaconsultation/index.html, www.cotrauma.info and www.coems.info.