Supervisor:  Prof.  Kirsten Vallmuur

Co-Supervisors: Prof. Steven McPhail, Prof. Emma Bosley, Prof. Kerrianne Watt 

Thesis title:  Pre-hospital trauma triage: Epidemiology, accuracy and economics 

Thesis Summary: The burden of disease associated with major trauma is significant, and Australia’s geographic size and population dispersion challenge the trauma system. Most major trauma patients in Australia are transported by ambulance, and there is a mortality benefit if conveyed directly to a specialised trauma facility. Given this, paramedics’ ability to triage this cohort accurately is fundamental. However, evidence suggests trauma triage criteria often fail to achieve the expected accuracy, with paediatrics and older people at a significantly higher risk of undertriage. This research aims to explore definitions of severe trauma and its epidemiology, spatial and temporal trends, understand the performance of the Queensland pre-hospital trauma triage criteria, consider updates to the current approach and explore the system-level economic impacts of the current and alternative trauma triage criteria.