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Orthopaedic surgeons can make an impact through road safety programs
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Orthopaedic surgeons play a key role in the treatment of patients injured in traffic crashes. With increased traffic in most European cities and on many of the national highways in Europe, there has been a significant increase in the number of car accidents and people severely injured or killed in collisions in recent decades. This is an opportunity for orthopaedic surgeons to make a difference.
When the initiatives of United Nations 2011-2020 Decade of Action for Road Safety were established, orthopaedic surgeons in Germany began an active discussion about the strategies needed to make a difference in road safety in their country. With the assistance of colleagues from other medical specialties who are also involved in patient management following road traffic crashes, they developed the improved post-crash management system that Andruszkow and colleagues reported on in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma in 2014. The initiatives they established, which included expanded hospital networks and stricter road traffic fines, among others already in place such as better management of road safety and safer vehicles, have already shown impressive results.
The German example is evidence that as the key health professionals who deliver trauma care, orthopaedic surgeons should be actively involved in organizational and political discussions on this topic at the national level. Because traffic regulations are different across the European continent, there may differing discussions among countries. However, we all ultimately face the same problems in road safety programs and need to take the same actions and work diligently to reduce the number of people injured by road traffic collisions, as well as the severity of their injuries.
Ways to achieve these ends also must be discussed in multinational profession fora, such as in trauma sessions held during large medical congresses.
Andruszkow and the other orthopaedic surgeons from Germany who published the study have shown us “the road” when it comes to being proactive concerning road traffic safety. I recommend readers of Orthopaedics Today Europe read their entire paper, as well as an article about their work on page 43 of this issue. It can be the start of what I hope will be an active and productive discussion of how orthopaedic surgeons and traumatologists in individual nations can help reduce how many people are injured or killed in traffic crashes across Europe.
- Reference:
- Andruszkow H. J Orthop Trauma. 2014;doi:10.1097/BOT.0000000000000110.
- For more information:
- Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, MD, is Chief Medical Editor of Orthopaedics Today Europe. He can be reached at Orthopaedics Today Europe, 6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, NJ 08086, USA; email: orthopaedics@healio.com.
Disclosure: Kjaersgaard-Andersen has no relevant financial disclosures.