Citation

Abe T, Ochiai H. J. Rural Med. 2016; 11(1): 25-29.

Affiliation

Department of Trauma and Critical Care Medicine, University of Miyazaki Hospital, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Japanese Association of Rural Medicine)

DOI

10.2185/jrm.2907

PMID

27313799

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Rescuing severe trauma patients who are injured far from a trauma center is challenging for rural emergency systems. We report a severe trauma case that occurred at a remote location, in which the patient's life was saved by a dispatched doctor car and a physician from a local medical facility. PATIENT: A 31-year-old man experienced a left femur injury due to a fallen tree. The fire station requested a doctor car from our center, approximately 56 km away. Meanwhile, a paramedic team reported that the patient was in a state of shock. The doctor car docked over 1 h after the accident. Pressure hemostasis, rapid intravenous infusion, and tracheal intubation were performed en route. After arrival at our hospital, an emergency blood transfusion was administered; the injured blood vessel was sutured and the wound closed. On day 22, the patient was transferred to another hospital for rehabilitation.

DISCUSSION: Rapid response-type doctor car is often considered ineffective for distant severe trauma cases. However, this case demonstrates the benefits of a doctor car working with local medical facilities.

CONCLUSION: The rapid response-type doctor car is effective even in remote severe trauma cases.

Language: en