Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Strengthening care of injured children globally

Charles Mock, Francis Abantanga, Jacques Goosen, Manjul Joshipura & Catherine Juillard

Volume 87, Number 5, May 2009, 382-389

Table 2. Implementation of WHO trauma care recommendations in several countries

Country Use of WHO recommendations
Colombia • Recommendations contained in Prehospital trauma care systems incorporated into national legislation: Decree 3616 of 2005 and Resolution 1043 of 2006, both of which address basic qualifications for providers of prehospital care and standards for equipment in ambulances, as well as establishing methods for audit of the quality of care provided.22,23
• Guidelines for essential trauma care (EsTC) used as basis for needs assessment of trauma care capabilities in selected provinces.
Ecuador • Guidelines for EsTC used as basis for needs assessment of trauma care capabilities in seven provinces in south-east Ecuador.
• Guidelines for EsTC endorsed by the Ecuadorian Trauma Society.
Ghana • Guidelines for EsTC endorsed by Ghana Medical Association.
• Nationwide needs assessment conducted using Guidelines for EsTC as basis.24
• Stakeholders conference held in 2005, bringing together trauma care experts, Ministry of Health planners, WHO personnel and several members of parliament. This adapted the Guidelines for EsTC to Ghanaian circumstances and discussed implementation methods. It produced: “Recommendations for a national policy on strengthening the care of injured persons in Ghana”.
India • Guidelines for EsTC endorsed by Academy of Traumatology (India).
• Stakeholders conferences were conducted in 2003 and 2005 to adapt recommendations to Indian circumstances and to discuss implementation strategies. These were co-sponsored by government and WHO. Stakeholders involved include trauma care clinicians from government and private sector, non-government organizations, public health planners.
• Guidelines for EsTC used as basis for needs assessments of trauma care capabilities in Gujarat state.25
Mexico • Guidelines for EsTC endorsed by Mexican Association for the Medicine and Surgery of Trauma (AMMCT).
• Nationally representative needs assessment conducted using Guidelines for EsTC as basis in collaboration with AMMCT and WHO Country Office.25,26
• Stakeholders conference conducted (2004) to adapt Guidelines for EsTC to Mexican circumstances. This was sponsored by national Ministry of Health and WHO. Stakeholders included representatives of most national professional societies that deal with trauma, as well as national Ministry of Health and several state health department planners.
• The Guidelines for EsTC has been translated into Spanish and re-published by the Pan American Health Organization for use in Latin America.
• Recommendations contained in Prehospital trauma care systems and Guidelines for EsTC incorporated into national legislation establishing standards for prehospital care providers.27
Mozambique • Prehospital trauma care systems used as basis for prehospital trauma care needs assessment and used in development of emergency medical services in Maputo.
Viet Nam • Guidelines for EsTC used as basis for needs assessments of trauma care capabilities in several provinces.
• Findings of these needs assessments prompted affordable and sustainable improvements in trauma care in Hanoi, an excellent example of how the Guidelines for EsTC can be used to stimulate on-the-ground improvements.28
• Guidelines for EsTC and Prehospital trauma care systems have been translated into Vietnamese and re-published locally as collaborative effort of WHO Country Office and Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

EsTC, essential trauma care.