Pelvic Binding and Prehosptial Traction Splinting, Results of a Survey

Ove the past few months I’ve been running a Poll via word press and eventually a more comprehensive survey on the use of Prehospital Pevic Binders and Traction splints

The G+ Conversation that started it all

https://plus.google.com/112542748512329454597/posts/fcPVcYHZcUo

Over all I’ve had 75 responses to the survey. While this is by no means exhaustive it provides a basic idea of what the world are doing.
Respondants were sources via twitter and came from Australia (various states), UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Scotland, The Middle east, Ireland and Sweden (listed in prevalance of response).

Brands of binders: SAM II, T-POD, Bedsheets + Clamps, Promethus Binder, KED.
Brands of Traction Splint, Donway, Hare, CT-6, Sager, Trac 3.

88% indicated that pelvic binding was indicated by their service and they have equipment to perform it.

97.33% of respondants are using a Traction Splint on Femur Fractures w/o pelvic trauma.

 48.54 %of respondants indicated that their service had in place a protocol for dealing with multi trauma of pelvis/femur.
22.06% indicated no guidance for Pelvic and Femur traction concurrently.
13.24% have a protocol but it isn’t routinely applied by clinicians and 16.18% indicated that they don’t have a protocol but providers have applied it.

Respondants included, Paramedics (Road and Air based), flight RN’s, Students, Numerous Doctors from all around the globe. 
Doctors were the most international group and paramedics came a close second.

While this was in no way intended to be exhastive research into what is applied as standard it was intended to give a general view of the Prehospital managment of specific traumatic injuries.
In the absence of evidence we practice based on concenus opinion. The responses were gathered by me for the purpose of better understanding what the Prehospital Community is doing world wide with there pelvic and femur fractures.

Thanks to all respondants, I hope this serves as a gathering of a small ammount of information to enlighten you as to the current state of play.

If anyone ever wants to talk about this, bring along the evidence your service or hospital is using and we’ll get a podcast going

 

Resources;

Institute of Trauma and Injury Managment

http://www.aci.health.nsw.gov.au/networks/itim

Adult Trauma Clinical Practice Guidelines; Managment of Hemodynamically Unstable Patients with a Pelvic Fracture:   

http://www.aci.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/195176/Management_of_Haemodynamically_Unstable_Patients_with_a_Pelvic_Fracture_Full_Report.pdf

If your still hungry to learn more:

Initial management of pelvic and femoral fractures in the multiply injured patient

Amer Mirza, MD, Thomas Ellis

http://www.ubccriticalcaremedicine.ca/academic/jc_article/Pelvic%20and%20Femoral%20Fractures%20in%20Multitrauma%20Management%20Review%20(Feb-14-08).pdf

Featured image from:

http://www.emcram.com/showimage.asp?ID=89

Some of the information provides during the talk.

Click to access 2013-12%20Pelvic%20Consensus%20COMPLETE.pdf

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11239259

Click to access traction_splint_angl.pdf

http://regionstraumapro.com/post/19178815208

A Link to the podcast it will be in your I-Tunes shortly. If you haven’t subscribed, please do! Leave a comment, recommend me to your friends.

 

 

Prehospital Pelvic Binding and Femoral Traction Poll

I’d like to hear about your service and Femoral Traction in the Presence of a Pelvic injury, do you have a SOP, Protocol, Guideline on the application of Femoral Traction Splints in the Presence of Pelvic injury?

This is out of Twitter, does your service have a formal recommendation on the use of Traction in pelvic fracture, if so I’d like you to enter an answer on the poll!

I’d like to see as many responses as possible!

Feel free to comment on the blog, at twitter or in the current discussion on G+