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Background: Injuries are a leading cause of mortality among children globally, with children in low- and middle-income countries more likely to die if injured compared to children in high-income countries. Timely and high-quality care are essential to reduce injury-related morbidity and mortality. Objectives: This study describes patterns, management, and outcomes of children 0–15 years presenting with unintentional injuries at three district hospitals in rural Rwanda between January 1 and December 31, 2017. Methods: Using a retrospective cross-sectional study design, we assessed the demographic and clinical characteristics, care provided, and outcomes of the children using data extracted from patient medical charts. We describe the patient population using frequencies and proportions as well as median and interquartile ranges. Findings: Of the 449 injured children who sought care at the three rural district hospitals, 66.2% (n = 297) were boys. The main causes of injury were falls (n = 261, 58.1%), burns (n = 101, 22.5%), and road traffic injuries (n = 67, 14.9%). Burns were the most common injury among children aged 0–5 years while falls were the leading injury type among the 5–15 years age group. Vital signs were inconsistently completed ranging between 23.8–89.1% of vital sign items. Of the injured children, 37.0% (n = 166) received surgery at the district hospital, general practitioners performed 80.9% (n = 114) of surgeries, 87.4% (n = 145) of operated patients received no anesthesia, and 69.3% (n = 311) were admitted to the district hospital, while 2.7% (n = 12) were transferred to tertiary facilities for higher-level care. Conclusions: The presentation of child injuries—namely falls, burns, and road traffic accidents—is similar to what has been reported in other sub-Saharan African countries. However, more needs to be done to improve the completion and documentation of vital signs and increase availability of surgical specialists. Finally, targeted strategies to prevent burns and motorcycle-related injuries are recommended prevention interventions for this rural population.

Background: Surgical capacity building has gained substantial momentum. However, care at the hospital level depends on improved access to emergency services. There is no established model for facilitating trauma and EMS system capacity in LMIC settings. This manuscript describes our model for multi-disciplinary collaboration to advance trauma and EMS capacity in Rwanda, along with our lessons and recommendations. Methods: After high-level meetings at the Ministry of Health in Rwanda (MOH), in 2016, a capacity building plan focusing on improved clinical services, quality improvement/research and leadership capacity across prehospital and emergency settings. The main themes for the collaborative model included for empowerment of staff, improving clinical service delivery, and investing in systems and infrastructure. Funding was sought and incorporated into the Sector Wide Approaches to Planning process at the Ministry of Health of Rwanda. Findings: A shared mental model was created through a fully funded immersion program for Rwandese leaders from emergency medicine, nursing, prehospital care, and injury policy. Prehospital care delivery was standardized within Kigali through a train-the-trainers program with four new context-appropriate short courses in trauma, medical, obstetric/neonatal, and pediatric emergencies and expanded across the country to reach >600 staff at district and provincial hospitals. Forty-two protocols and checklists were implemented to standardize prehospital care across specialties. The WHO Trauma Registry was instituted across four major referral centers in the country capturing over 5,000 injured patients. Long-term research capacity development included Masters’ Degree support for 11 staff. Conclusions and Recommendations: This collaboration was highly productive in empowering staff and leadership, standardizing clinical service delivery in EMS, and investing in systems and infrastructure. This can be a useful model for trauma and EMS system capacity development in other LMICs.