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Due to the initiative of the TraumaNetzwerk of the German Society for Trauma Surgery regional trauma networks were established in Germany and an organizational change in the care for multiply injured patients took place. The main objective is the improvement of trauma care by assuring minimal organizational, personnel, and structural requirements based on the White Book on the care for severely injured patients. By the end of 2012, all participating hospitals will be audited and all networks will be certified. The certification process takes an average of 36 months with seven meetings from registration to certification. This process is accompanied by 5 educational meetings with 76 participants. One fifth of all hospitals registered do not go through the whole certification process, so that a network consists of 15 hospitals in the end. Another important element of the TraumaNetzwerk DGU® is quality management; documentation in the TraumaRegister DGU® and regional quality circles are mandatory. Whether participation in the TraumaNetzwerk DGU® can influence or even improve the care for multiply injured patients will be shown on the basis of data of the TraumaRegister DGU®. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the initiative of the TraumaNetzwerk of the German Society for Trauma Surgery regional trauma networks were established in Germany and an organizational change in the care for multiply injured patients took place. The main objective is the improvement of trauma care by assuring minimal organizational, personnel, and structural requirements based on the White Book on the care for severely injured patients. By the end of 2012, all participating hospitals will be audited and all networks will be certified. The certification process takes an average of 36 months with seven meetings from registration to certification. This process is accompanied by 5 educational meetings with 76 participants. One fifth of all hospitals registered do not go through the whole certification process, so that a network consists of 15 hospitals in the end. Another important element of the TraumaNetzwerk DGU® is quality management; documentation in the TraumaRegister DGU® and regional quality circles are mandatory. Whether participation in the TraumaNetzwerk DGU® can influence or even improve the care for multiply injured patients will be shown on the basis of data of the TraumaRegister DGU®. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the TraumaNetzwerk DGU (German Society for Trauma Surgery) is the improvement of care for severely injured patients by establishing regional networks and ensuring minimum organizational, personnel and structural requirements based on the White Book of severely injured care of the DGU. Since its foundation 4 years ago it has made great progress. Most of the German trauma centres which take part in the care for severely injured patients are now organized in 53 regional trauma networks of which 5 networks have been certified, 322 hospitals audited and another 56 audits are being planned. A structured survey of all hospitals going through the audit process showed that most clinics made many organizational, personnel and even structural changes. Organizational changes were predominant (53.2%) but there were many personnel (26.7%) and structural (15.5%) changes as well. These modifications and the revived discussion on the topic following the foundation of the TraumaNetzwerk DGU have already led to major changes in the care for severely injured patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of the severely injured is, just as the injury severity and combinations, often highly complex and leaves little leeway for delay, dissent or even error. In order to reduce this to a minimum, trained emergency room teams in addition to optimal technical and structural prerequisites are necessary. This must function in an interdisciplinary fashion according to fixed consensus algorithms which are known to all team members and have been agreed by all participants. The White Paper on treatment of the severely injured of the German Society of Trauma Surgery (DGU) and the recently published S3 guidelines offer evidence-based recommendations on the structural, technical, organizational and personnel prerequisites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]