Trauma care systems in France

The French Republic includes approximatively 60 millions inhabitants for almost 550,000 km 2. Prehospital management is organised at departement level (96). This management involves a regulatory system initiated from a unique phone number (15 national). The medical regulator sends either first-aid providers or a medical team. On-site care is highly developed and prehospital medically assisted care is really the first phase of the treatment of the injured. The team ensures that the victim is in the best condition for transport and participates in monitoring. Intra-hospital care begins either in an emergency room, with a physician qualified in Emergency Medecine, or in a recovery room, with a surgical intensive-care team. There is no specialisation in trauma in France. All specialist surgeons treat those aspects of trauma pathology that concern them. All surgeons operate on trauma patients and with regard to the organ concerned: digestive, orthopaedic,…. The challenge nervertheless remains that of maintaining facilities at a sufficient level to deal with everyday pathology, known for the seriousness of its consequences in both human and financial terms, within an increasingly sparse hospital infrastructure. Suggestions are emerging in response to these preoccupations. Organisation at the European level of hand emergency units (FESUM) is a targeted exemple.