Trauma Registry

Abstract

One of the major problems in providing improved care for the injured patient is the lack of a well-defined system of care for the critically injured. Patients are ordinarily taken to the nearest hospital, rather than the one best equipped and staffed to treat them. Many of these patients are later transferred to more appropriate facilities with considerable discomfort, disability, and even death resulting from these unnecessary movements. Many patients are given suboptimal care once they reach an inadequate facility. A major barrier to improving trauma care is the lack of cumulative knowledge and experience in the complex management of severely injured trauma patients. The general inadequacy of the present medical record system further compounds this problem. In response to this obvious deficiency and at the suggestion of the National Research Council,¹a computerized Trauma Registry has been developed at the Trauma Unit of the Cook County Hospital, the