New Poster Will Improve Care for Head Injuries

Emergency department physicians across the province now have a new poster to help them diagnose serious head injuries faster and get patients the care they need sooner.

"The purpose of the head-injury guideline poster is to help diagnose serious head injuries more quickly," said Dr. John Tallon, medical director for the Emergency Health Services Trauma Program. "Most emergency departments across Nova Scotia are staffed by family physicians, many of whom rarely see a head injury. When a patient arrives with a head injury we want to help them make the most accurate diagnosis possible as quickly as possible."

The new poster was developed by the neurosurgery division at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, the IWK Health Centre and the Emergency Health Services branch of the Department of Health.

With neurosurgical expertise concentrated in Halifax, the need to quickly diagnose and move patients with serious head injuries from across the province to the QEII or IWK is essential for the best possible outcomes.

"Head injury can be a challenging clinical entity for most doctors working in the province's emergency departments, so we got together with the Department of Health's provincial trauma program to look at how we could assist physicians," said Dr. David Clarke, a neurosurgeon at the QEII. "The poster is an attempt to standardize the initial assessment and management of head-injured patients presenting to any emergency department in the province and to facilitate early transfer to specialized care in Halifax."

"Now all emergency departments across the province have this resource available, and we're hoping that serious adult and pediatric head-injury cases will be arriving for treatment in Halifax sooner than before," said Dr. Clarke.

The poster provides simple, easy-to-use guidelines to help determine the signs of a serious head injury, as well as the relevant information for contacting Emergency Health Services to access air medical transport and the paging of specialized trauma teams at the QEII and IWK.

"Dealing with head-injured patients has always been worrisome for emergency and family physicians," said Dr. Mike Howlett, an emergency department physician at Colchester Regional Hospital in Truro. "We've been using the new head injury poster here ever since it was published. It's based on the best medical evidence available, and we have really appreciated the clarity and simplicity of the guidelines. The poster helps to clear up any confusion in situations where timing and the proper interventions can make all the difference."

The head injury guideline poster can be found on the Department of Health Web site, at www.gov.ns.ca/health/ehs/Trauma/images/head_injury_guideline.jpg