• James Ankomah, Barclay T Stewart, Victor Oppong-Nketia, Adofo Koranteng, Adam Gyedu, Robert Quansah, Peter Donkor, Francis Abantanga, and Charles Mock.
• Department of Surgery, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
• J. Pediatr. Surg. 2015 Nov 1; 50 (11): 1922-7.

BackgroundThis study aimed to assess the availability of pediatric trauma care items (i.e. equipment, supplies, technology) and factors contributing to deficiencies in Ghana.MethodsTen universal and 9 pediatric-sized items were selected from the World Health Organization's Guidelines for Essential Trauma Care. Direct inspection and structured interviews with administrative, clinical and biomedical engineering staff were used to assess item availability at 40 purposively sampled district, regional and tertiary hospitals in Ghana.ResultsHospital assessments demonstrated marked deficiencies for a number of essential items (e.g. basic airway supplies, chest tubes, blood pressure cuffs, electrolyte determination, portable X-ray). Lack of pediatric-sized items resulting from equipment absence, lack of training, frequent stock-outs and technology breakage were common. Pediatric items were consistently less available than adult-sized items at each hospital level.ConclusionThis study identified several successes and problems with pediatric trauma care item availability in Ghana. Item availability could be improved, both affordably and reliably, by better organization and planning (e.g. regular assessment of demand and inventory, reliable financing for essential trauma care items). In addition, technology items were often broken. Developing local service and biomedical engineering capability was highlighted as a priority to avoid long periods of equipment breakage.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

22 keywords...

hide…