DGU press release
Trauma surgeons develop Trauma Care Bundle for emergency services
The German Trauma Society (DGU) is introducing a set of measures on prehospital care for the severely injured. The Trauma Care Bundle consists of six evidence-based measures to be implemented in all cases of severe injury. The measures are listed in a chart and are easy to understand. They are designed to improve the professional confidence of paramedics and emergency physicians and enable them to deliver the correct treatment quickly and safely in time-critical situations.
This should further improve the survival chances of severely injured patients in the time between their rescue and admission to a trauma centre. DGU experts will present the Trauma Care Bundle for the first time on 4 March 2016 at the German Interdisciplinary Emergency Medicine Congress (DINK) in Koblenz. The chart is also available as a sticker for ambulances, and can be ordered free of charge from the DGU.
The Trauma Care Bundle consists of the following measures:
- Ensure airway is clear
- Clinically examine the thorax and check respiratory function
- Check bleeding and create suitable vascular access
- Assess consciousness, motor function and sensitivity
- Immobilise spinal column and injured extremities; treat wounds
- Ensure body heat is preserved
The bundle of measures is based on the DGU’s S3 Guideline on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple Injuries. Prof. Gerrit Matthes, member of the DGU Section for Emergency Medicine, Intensive Medicine and Medical Care of the Severely Injured, helped to develop them: “These simple, clearly formulated measures have proven their worth in everyday hospital life – we now want to transfer this knowledge to ambulances.”
“Care bundles” are a new approach to treating specific risk groups. The concept originated in the US and aims to make scientifically proven best-practice elements readily available. A care bundle is a structured method for improving treatment processes and results. A good example is the Sepsis Care Bundle from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC), which is linked to a significant drop in mortality rates following its introduction.
References:
(1) Matthes G., Trentzsch H., Wölfl C., Paffrath S., Flohé S., Schweigkofler U., Ekkernkamp A., Schulz-Drost S. from the Section for Emergency Medicine, Intensive Medicine and Medical Care of the Severely Injured (NIS) of the German Trauma Society. Wesentliche Maßnahmen zur prähospitalen Versorgung schwerverletzter Patienten – Das Trauma Care Bundle (“Essential measures for the prehospital care of severely injured patients – the Trauma Care Bundle”), Unfallchirurg 2015 – 118:652-656
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00113-015-0042-7
Copies of the publication may be sent on request (permission from the publisher has been obtained).
Information on orders:
Order the Trauma Care Bundle as an A5 sticker for the ambulance free of charge by sending an e-mail to: 
office@dgu-online.de
