News

What's new in trauma? We bring you the latest in trauma research, stories and news happening internationally and locally.

If you have a story you would like shared here, let us know. 

January 2020

The Year Ahead

This time last year it would have been hard to imagine the events of March 15th and December 9th which required trauma responses of a scale and type not previously required in NZ. So in 2020, what will lie before us? Without considering what might unpredictably be thrust upon us, it will nonetheless be an important year for trauma activity. Most importantly, it will be the start of the quality improvement initiatives, provided by the Health Quality and Safety Commission (The Commission) on behalf of the Network. Critical haemorrhage, rehabilitation, and serious traumatic brain injury are all QI activities which will be initiated shortly, or in near future. In parallel, a trauma quality improvement facilitator (TQIF) course will be run by Ko Awatea with participants from DHBs around NZ and our prehospital providers. In July we will transition to new Major Trauma Registry software which we hope will be more user friendly and useful at a local and national level. In August, we will run our first National Trauma Symposium (www.traumasymposium.nz) with Chris Moran, clinical lead for the Trauma Network in the UK  as well as Belinda Gabbe and Michael Dinh from Australia. And before long it will be the end of the year. While hoping for as low an incidence of trauma as possible, inevitably it will occur and our role in the Network is to make sure patients are cared for as efficiently and effectively as possible leaving them both alive and able to return as close as possible to their previous quality of life.

Ian Civil, National Clinical Lead

Siobhan Isles, National Programme Manager

November 2019

Lime Scooters lose contract to operate on Auckland's streets

Lime and Wave e-scooters will be gone from the streets of Auckland, after the regulator decided not to renew the company's contract.

Auckland Transport and the city council announced today other e-scooter companies had been granted renewals or new licences - Beam, Neuron and Jump - alongside the existing operator Flamingo

Read the full article here by RNZ

November 2019

Tears, hugs, and serious injuries in a day’s work for a trauma nurse

Until her retirement in early August, Jenny was a trauma clinical nurse specialist at Waikato Hospital, involved with the Midland Trauma System. 

Jenny talks in a recent interview about the immeasurable role of supporting patients and whānau through their recovery journey.

Read the full article here by Stuff

October 2019

Dr Ian Civil awarded prestigious international prize

Dr Ian Civil, the National Clinical Lead for the New Zealand Trauma Network, received the prestigious Prize of the “Société Internationale de Chirurgie” at the 48th Annual World Congress of Surgery in Krakow, Poland. The prize consists of a medal and is awarded to the surgeon who has published work which has made the most notable and useful contributions to surgical science. The award is decided by majority vote from members of the Society. 

The Société Internationale de Chirurgie (SIC) is the oldest and most prestigious international surgical society in the world. It has over 3,000 members representing 100 countries.

Read more about the Prize of the “Société Internationale de Chirurgie” on the International Society of Surgery/Société Internationale de Chirurgie website.

October 2019

Learning from an international leader in trauma

We recently had the pleasure of hearing from Professor Karim Brohi in Christchurch and Wellington. The two sessions were incredibly valuable, and it was great to see many trauma colleagues attend, including those who joined through the live-streaming session. 

In Christchurch Prof Brohi discussed the management of hospital teams in mass casualty incidents, and how to care for both patients and staff. 

In Wellington we were hosted by the Hon Iain Lees-Galloway at Parliament (read the full speech here). Prof Brohi demonstrated the value of coordinated care through a network trauma system using the London Major Trauma System as a model example. 

If you missed the seminar in Christchurch, the edited videos are now available here

April 2019

New partnership with the Health Quality and Safety Commission

We are pleased to announce, a five-year improvement programme between ACC, on behalf of the National Trauma Network and the Health Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) has been underway. This partnership brings significant support to delivering:

• quality improvement across the trauma system, to create a system that learns and evolves 
• analytics and research so work is data-driven and based on evidence 
• a long-term outcomes survey to help understand how injured people cope at home so they can be better supported in their recovery