Mass-trauma events can put a strain on any healthcare system. In low- and middle-income countries, the surgical workforce and the available resources are limited, and surges in trauma cases can pose an even greater challenge. In Rwanda, mass-trauma appears to occur through two main mechanisms: motor vehicle collisions and natural disasters, primarily landslides. As climate change is accelerating, Rwanda is likely to see a continued rise of landslides and mass-trauma events.
The project is a collaboration between Linköping University (Andreas Wladis, Laura Pompermaier, Lotta Velin), Harvard Medical School (Robert Riviello) and the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (Jean-Claude Byiringiro, Menelas Nkeshimana, Faustin Ntirenganya). As the first step in this project, we aim to understand the epidemiology of mass-trauma in Rwanda. Following this, we will assess the trauma surge capacity in Rwanda and evaluate if and how this capacity can be strengthened using the Emergo Train System, a tool developed at KMC.