The Trauma Service at Royal North Shore Hospital has strong links with the Department of Anaesthesia, Pain and Perioperative Medicine.
A significant proportion of our Anaesthesia workload is emergency cases of which major trauma is a large component. Royal North Shore is a state wide referral service for Spinal Cord Injuries, Major Burns, and complex brachial plexus and hand injuries. Royal North Shore is one of the top three busiest trauma centres in the state of NSW, but has the highest Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Injury complexity ratings compared to other trauma centres of NSW.
The Trauma Service at Royal North Shore coordinates the Code Crimson protocols in the Hospital, which is a NSW Health determined process to expedite critically bleeding trauma patients to the operating theatre. This is a very complex and highly logistically challenging task, however we have had some fantastic clinical outcomes from the introduction of this clinical pathway. Each Code Crimson case is reviewed and learning points are disseminated.
We have a hybrid operating suite capacity at Royal North Shore Hospital, with extensive Interventional Radiology, Vascular, and General Surgical capabilities for caring for complex Code Crimson major trauma patients.
Several of our Anaesthetists are Trauma Consultants within the Royal North Shore Trauma Service, including the Director of the Trauma Service. Hence we have a significant collaborative interaction between departments.