Trauma: Ireland’s Medical Emergencies

Trauma is an ambitious four-part documentary series on RTÉ2 giving viewers an unprecedented insight into the high pressured, outstanding and skilful work carried out in the intense world of trauma and medical emergency in Ireland. From Emergency Department staff to surgeons, nurses and intensive care specialists – a chain of people who deal with cardiac arrests, head injuries, road traffic accidents and workplace incidents. A ‘traumatic’ injury is a serious injury to the body – from either physical violence or an accident – and one which requires crucial immediate medical attention. There are approximately 1,600 ‘major’ traumas (traumas with potential to cause prolonged disability or death) annually in Ireland, and while the optimum service may be an integrated trauma system, currently patients are treated in the hospital best suited to the nature of the injury. In this series, we focus on four hospitals and the incredible work carried out by the medical staff: cardiac and spinal trauma in The Mater Hospital, neuro-trauma in Beaumont Hospital; emergency care in St. Vincent’s Hospital and orthopaedic trauma and emergency in the Adelaide and Meath (Tallaght) Hospital. We also see staff from the National Ambulance Service and the Dublin Fire Brigade as they operate the 999 emergency call centres, the very first port of call in the chain of the teams dealing with these specialised cases. From the moment the resus phone is answered in the Emergency Department, the medical staff race to prepare for the pending arrival of the trauma patient. The following minutes, hours and days are possibly the most crucial that the trauma patient will have ever faced in their life. If they survive, they may face a very different future than the one they had anticipated. In each episode we follow the progress of several patients – from admission to hospital – to as close to the end of their medical treatment as possible – following each step of their m

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