Tag: oap

Silver Trauma

The population is ageing and thus our ‘typical’ trauma patient is also changing. In 2017 the TARN report “Major injury in older people” highlighted the following issues:

  • The typical major trauma patient: has changed from a young and male to being an older patient.
  • Older Major Trauma Patients (ISS>15): A fall of <2m is the commonest mechanism of injury
  • Triage/Recognition of ‘Silver Trauma’ is POOR
    • Pre-hospital: Not identified hence taken to TU’s (Here) not MTC’s (Leeds).
    • The ED: Often seen by Junior Staff and endure significant treatment delays.
    • Hospital: Much less likely to be transferred to specialist care.
    • Outcomes: More likely to die, but those who survive have similar levels of disability to younger people.

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