Third World trauma

Abstract

Trauma care has made great strides worldwide in recent years. This is especially noticeable in the more affluent countries, where new methodology has brought the seemingly impossible within reach - especially in fracture care. In parts of the so-called ‘Third World’ however, where expenditure on health care is around $2 per person per year, yet where trauma is rife, new methodologies are not within the reach of the rural poor. Nevertheless, a system of trauma care that works is evolving in many parts of the Third World, and a literature on the subject is growing. ‘Third World trauma’, developed by an army of trauma workers in the field, details the challenges and appropriate response to trauma cases. This paper gives surgeons hoping to work in the trauma field in the Third World examples of the thinking behind these developments, some recommended reading, and advice on preparation for work in the ‘Third World’.