Trauma Service
Trauma Service
The NCCTRC Trauma Service is a multi-disciplinary clinical team based at Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH).
RDH is the major trauma care provider for the Northern Territory of Australia, with over 800 trauma admissions each year, and is recognised with Level II Trauma Verification from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The NCCTRC Trauma Service was established in 2007 as a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. In collaboration with RDH healthcare teams, the Trauma Service provides and coordinates holistic specialist care for trauma patients, and follows their journey from presentation to the Emergency Department right through to Rehabilitation.
The Trauma Service integrates with all levels of trauma service providers across the Territory, both metropolitan and rural, to ensure the highest standard of care for our trauma patients. These stakeholders include hospitals across the Northern Territory, Aeromedical retrieval services, St John Ambulance, remote clinics and primary health care facilities.
The Trauma Service is responsible for the TEHS (Top End Health Service) Trauma Registry. The Registry provides data for ongoing quality improvement activities throughout the Top End, as well as allowing monitoring of service delivery and trauma outcomes. The Trauma Service supports many research projects and outcomes are monitored by the TEHS Trauma Management Committee along with the TEHS Trauma Morbidity and Mortality audits. The TEHS Trauma Registry feeds into the Australia New Zealand Trauma Registry (ATR) which is a key component of the Australian Trauma Quality Improvement Program (AUSTQIP)
The Trauma Service also maintains the Northern Territory Paediatric Injury Surveillance database, which was established in 2015 by the Centre for Disease Control in Darwin. This database collates information about the nature, location and type of injuries sustained by children in the Northern Territory.
Education is a key priority for the Trauma Service and we provide a comprehensive program of unique education and training packages both within Darwin and in remote communities. These courses focus on the safe assessment and management of trauma patients, and address teamwork skills in a trauma environment.
The NCCTRC Trauma Service delivers a regular schedule of the P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth) program throughout the school year across the Northern Territory. P.A.R.T.Y. is an in-hospital injury prevention and awareness program for high school students and aims to provide students with information about trauma that will help them recognise situations likely to result in injury. Being aware of the risk of injury or death empowers teens to then make safer choices in the future.