Many of us have lost a friend or loved one due to hijacking, a brutal murder or a robbery gone wrong. Although these deaths are reported, no one knows exactly how many die due to crime and violence in South Africa.
Not enough data in SA
For the health care professionals involved in treating injured patients, there is a perception that more and more violent and brutal deaths are reported in the media, and more horrific injuries are treated in our hospitals. Credible national statistics are impossible to find, not only because of the lack of a standardised compulsory national trauma data collection system, but also because of a reluctance to make public the available data, according to Dr Elmin Steyn, of the Trauma Society of South Africa.
"The health care professionals of the Trauma Society of South Africa and the doctors involved in the Advanced Trauma Life Support training in our country are constantly striving to provide the best possible care for victims of violence, but we know that ultimately trauma is a preventable disease," says Steyn.
"We know that for every death there are many who are seriously injured, many left permanently disfigured or incapacitated, many man hours lost to the economy and many families left destitute without a breadwinner, leading to more crime and violence in the struggle to survive. In financial terms, the cost of trauma, especially injury due to violence and crime, is immense, and affects all of us."
A new national database
A national database to collect information on all seriously injured patients has been developed under the auspices of the Trauma Society of South Africa, and is being piloted at various hospitals in the country. Once implemented nationally, this register will provide information on not only the nature and degree of injuries, but also of the medical management, outcomes and cost of trauma in South Africa.
How you make a difference
Since the national database will not reflect deaths that occur outside our hospitals, health care professionals in the field of trauma need the help of the public to compile a more accurate picture of the true number of deaths due to criminal violence in our country.
The Wall of Remembrance will help the Trauma Society of South Africa to record the tragic and unnecessary deaths since 2000 (an arbritrarily chosen year).
We aim not only to create a memorial to the individuals who have died, but also to build up a database of information on numbers, places and circumstances of death, to provide a bulk of evidence, however anecdotal, to continue the struggle towards a safe and peaceful society.
We appeal to all people of South Africa who have lost a friend or loved one due to crime or violence since 1 January 2000 to post a message.
The Trauma Society of South Africa strives not only to provide excellent care to injured patients, but also to assist and advise health care authorities and to promote awareness and prevention strategies. An extensive public database of trauma deaths will help us to reinforce the urgent need for addressing this problem at multiple levels in our country.
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