The C3 (Cape-Colorado-COMBAT) Global Trauma Network was awarded a pair of research grants funded by the US Department of Defense to study trauma outcomes in the Western Cape of South Africa over a 5-year period. The study is nicknamed “EpiC” (the official title is, “Epidemiology and Outcomes of Combat-Relevant Prolonged Trauma Care: a Prospective Multicenter Prehospital Study in South Africa.”)

In this exciting study, the co-PI’s, Dr. Nee-Kofi Mould-Millman and Dr. Adit Ginde, have brought together a large team of multi-disciplinary collaborators and co-investigators from the University of Colorado, Denver Health, the US military, and multiple institutions in South Africa, led by Stellenbosch University. This EMS-trauma-emergency medicine collaborative project leverages 6-years’ worth of research experience and infrastructure built by the team.

The study will help answer several high-priority questions on how time and early resuscitative interventions impact morbidity and mortality in critically-injured trauma patients. The answers to these questions are needed to improve care of injured military and civilian populations, worldwide. The team plans to recruit about 100,000 trauma patients in their exceptionally high-trauma environment in the Western Cape of South Africa. 

The research team anticipates that this project will lay the foundation for additional focused studies on specific trauma sub-populations, for example, persons with severe traumatic brain injuries and those with hemorrhagic shock.