title: [Prehospital care of victims of traffic accidents (First Aid Medical Service of the Highway Development Corp.)].
abstract: The University of São Paulo School of Medicine was the pioneer in the emergency attendance of traffic accident victims first at the Santa Casa de Misericordia Emergency Ward and later at the Emergency Ward of the Hospital das Clínicas. The University of São Paulo School of Medicine has also inaugurated the pre-hospital medical management of traffic accident victims through the DERSA First Aid Medical Service that operates permanent ambulance units staffed with a driver and a first aid medical technician working in 8 hours shifts, located at every 30 to 40 km on highways under DERSA jurisdiction. Once this mobile unit is summoned it takes an average of 3 to 8 minutes to reach the accident site where the first aid medical technician gives the initial medical assistance, being the victim thereafter removed to a hospital facility in about 6 to 14 minutes. An analysis of the evolution during the hospitalization of traffic accident victims showed that 86.3% of the patients were discharged after the initial attendance and 13.7% remained hospitalized. In the next section the authors present the "working philosohy" and report on the facilities available for assistance of politraumatized patients on the higways under DERSA jurisdiction (Anchieta-Imigrantes; Anhanguera-Bandeirantes and Trabalhadores Systems) within São Paulo state.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okumura
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000552:Ambulances; D001938:Brazil; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006801:Humans; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014187:Transportation of Patients
vernacular_title: Atendimento pré-hospitalar de vítimas de acidentes de trânsito (serviço de atendimento de primeiros socorros da "DERSA").