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Objective: The high burden of injuries in Iran necessitates the establishment of a comprehensive trauma care system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current status of trauma system regarding the components and function.Methods: The current status of trauma system in all components of a trauma system was described through expert panels and semi-structured interviews with trauma specialists and policy makers.Results: Currently, various organizations are involved in prevention, management and rehabilitation of injuries, but an integrative system approach to trauma is rather deficient. There has been ongoing progress in areas of public education through media, traffic regulation reinforcement, hospital care and prehospital services. Meanwhile, there are gaps regarding financing, legislations and education of high risk groups. The issues on education and training standards of the front line medical team and continuing education and evaluation are yet to be addressed. Trauma registry has been piloted in some provinces, but as it needs the well-developed infrastructure (regarding staff, maintenance, financial resources), it is not yet established in our system of trauma care.Conclusions: It seems that one of the problems with trauma care in Iran is lack of coordination among trauma system organizations. Although the clinical management of trauma patients has improved in our country in the recent decade, decreasing the burden of injuries necessitates an organized approach to prevention and management of trauma in the context of a trauma system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Seat belt use during pregnancy reduces injury to the mother and her fetus. During recent years, the use of seat belts has been mandated by law in Iran. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and practices of pregnant women regarding seat belt use.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we asked 335 pregnant women at a hospital-based prenatal care clinic on the use of safety belt before and during pregnancy. SPSS version 13.0 was used for data analysis.Results: The mean age of study subjects was 27.3 years ± 5.3 years with the median of 27 years. Compared with the seat belt use before pregnancy, no change was detected in 48.7% of the women; seat belt use had increased in 17.5 % of them and decreased in 33.8 %. Eighty-one percent of women knew the correct placing of both lap belt and shoulder belt. Only 4% of women had received education on proper restraint use during pregnancy.Conclusions: The prevalence of seat belt use during pregnancy is lower than reports which are mostly from developed nations. The fact that about one-third of women have decreased their seat belt usage during pregnancy highlights the importance of education of mothers on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although long bone fracture in children is not life-threatening, it may cause major disability, loss of working days and severe psychological distress. We conducted this study to determine the pattern of extremity fracture due to trauma in children.Methods: During one year in six general hospitals in Tehran, trauma patients who were hospitalized for more than 24 hours and sustained injuries within seven days before admission were included in the study. The records of children (< or = 16 years old) hospitalized in six general hospitals in Tehran due to trauma were reviewed prospectively.Results: During the study period, 1 274 children had sustained extremity fractures. Male to female ratio was 3.6/1, with the mean age of (10.3+/-4.2) years. Falls and traffic crashes were the main causes of injuries, with the percentages of 57.3% and 37.1%, respectively. Simple fall (falling on the ground) consisted 60% of patients that sustained fall-related injuries. Pedestrians and bicycle riders comprised most of the cases that were injured due to traffic crashes. Of our cases, 56.8% sustained fractures in the upper extremities and 43.2% in the lower extremities. Forearm was the most common fracture site (34.1%). Comparing our results in preschool and school-age children, falls were the main cause of injuries in both groups, but fractures of lower extremities were significantly more common in preschool children.Conclusions: Improvement of physical condition of sidewalks and crossings in roads will be necessary for prevention of injuries. More attention to safety of home environment should be paid for control of preschools'injury at home. Education of children and adults is necessary to reduce injuries resulting from road traffic crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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