Hakkenbrak et al review preventable deaths in trauma patients. The authors are from Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Public Health Service of Amsterdam.
Situation: death of a trauma patient
Term
Feature
trauma-related preventable death
death could have been prevented by timely implementation of standard practice OR avoidable error OR suboptimal care
trauma-related potentially preventable death
death could have been avoided with optimal care; care appropriate overall but some deviations could have contributed to death
trauma-related non-preventable death
death unavoidable despite adequate care and appropriate evaluation AND/OR comorbid condition as major contributor to death
Additional factors:
(1) a complete and thorough autopsy is required to identify any contributory factors
(2) TRISS or other score can be used to predict the expected probability of survival
(3) the case should be reviewed with input from a trauma surgeon, ED doctor, anesthesiologist and forensic pathologist
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