Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116712

Eric S. Griffin, TraumaLink, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Blvd., 3535 TraumaLink 10th floor, Phialdelphia, PA 19104, 215-590-5208, egriffin@mail.med.upenn.edu and Flaura K. Winston, MD, PhD, TraumaLink, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, 3535 TraumaLink, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Context: Motor vehicle crash injury and fatality are emerging public health concerns in developing countries. Ninety percent of the world crash fatality burden is in low- and middle- income countries. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges and solutions to establishing a functional and sustainable traffic injury surveillance system in a developing country. Methods: Hospital and government personnel were involved throughout the process of surveillance system design and implementation to ensure cooperation, ownership, and acceptance of the data collected. A survey and surveillance system was implemented at the Central Hospital on Tarawa, the 45 km long atoll capital of the Republic of Kiribati. Between February and December 2003 patients who arrived to the Emergency Room (ER) for traffic-related injury were identified. The nursing staff completed a survey to record characteristics of the crash. Results: Between March and December 2003, 149 patients arrived to the ER after experiencing a traffic-related incident. The surveillance system identified 92 of these patients. Among those enrolled, 85 percent had surveys sufficiently completed to allow for characterization of the incident. Nineteen deaths were recorded for a population-based rate of 46/100,000, annualized. Conclusion: An injury surveillance system can be implemented in a low-income country with minimal public health infrastructure. Involvement of the end-users of the data collected afforded good cooperation and translation of the data into policy decisions of the Central Government. Further follow up is necessary to ascertain if the surveillance system was utilized after the training period.

Learning Objectives: