Background: Prehospital data are crucial to comprehensively understand the burden and characteristics of trauma in children, yet little is known about the epidemiology of trauma amongst children attended by Australian ambulance services, or how this burden varies with age, gender, mechanism and geographical remoteness.
Method: Data on trauma in children aged <16yrs attended by ambulance in Queensland over 5 years (2018–2022) were extracted and linked with Emergency Department, Admission and Death data. Incident location (via postcode) was used to estimate remoteness via ARIA. Age- and gender-specific incidence rates were calculated and stratified by mechanism and remoteness. Cost of ambulance attended injury was calculated using the QAS Product Costing model.
Results:Between 2018-2022, there were 92 trauma-related ambulance attendances involving children aged 0-16 yrs in Queensland per day, representing 13% of total prehospital trauma attendances, at an estimated $37 million dollars annual cost ($100,031 per day). Almost half of the prehospital trauma burden in Queensland children occurred outside major cities (45/92 daily attendances). Annual incidence of ambulance attended trauma (31 per 1,000) differed by age, gender and mechanism, and increased with remoteness. Falls, transport incidents, overdose/poisoning, laceration/sharp object, and intentional harm were the leading causes of trauma in children. Differences were observed by age.
Conclusion: Paediatric trauma confers a substantial prehospital burden. Understanding the epidemiology of ambulance attended child trauma can inform service planning/provision, paramedic education/professional development and prioritisation of injury prevention. Further exploration of the association between demographic, clinical and injury characteristics and outcomes, is paramount to ensure high-quality, patient-centred, evidence-based care for children throughout Queensland.