Issue 21
N E W S L E T T E R
February 2001
CRASH
Goes Global!
Congratulations to all collaborators
  •  CRASH is already the largest randomised controlled trial in head injury ever conducted
  •  Now 1200 patients randomised
  •  Currently recruiting patients in 66 centres in 20 countries from all around the world
  •  Applications to take part from a further 120 hospitals are now being processed
  •  Outcome data for the primary trial end point are over 95% complete
  •  Six-month follow up rates are close to 90% and rising
..
Following a successful pilot phase that included over 1,000 randomised participants, the main phase of the trial is now underway.  Over the next five years the CRASH trial aims to recruit a total of 20,000 patients.  Such large numbers will be possible only if hundreds of doctors and nurses can collaborate in emergency departments all over the world.  The priority for the coming years is to maintain strong recruitment at existing centres and to bring on board hundreds more participating centres.  Spread the word.  Keep randomising and keep evangelising.
Janice Fernandes and Reshma Mashru
We are delighted to let you know that Janice and Reshma have recently joined the CRASH team at the Co-ordinating Centre in London. 


Janice Fernandes has joined the team as Follow-up
Co-ordinator, having overall responsibility for 6 month follow-up in the CRASH Trial. She will follow-up all patients in the UK and Eire, and work closely with Overseas National Co-ordinators to minimise loss to follow-up in all participating countries.

Her background is in treatment evaluation but most recently she has been working on the development of a structured interview schedule to assess personality changes in head injured patients.



Reshma Mashru joined us in December as Data Manager.  With the aim to recruit 20,000 patients, she has taken on the huge job of ensuring that complete and accurate early outcome data is obtained from all collaborating hospitals. 

Over the coming months Reshma will be developing systems to ensure that data is returned from all centres, and will be working with you to identify any recurring data issues and establish the best ways to manage these.  She has joined us from working on a national hospital acquired infection surveillance programme where her responsibilities lay in collecting all data from all participating centres.
To make life easier ...
Just to remind you that prescription labels are included in each treatment pack. Please use these for prescribing the CRASH trial drug for randomised patients. Getting the trial treatment prescribed by the doctor who randomises the patient will help ensure that the patient receives the full trial treatment.
CRASH Trial Co-ordinator, Nin Ritchie

CRASH Co-ordinating Centre, FREEPOST LON 14211, LONDON WC1N 1BR

Tel: + 44 (0)20 7299 4684 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7299 4663 email: CRASH@lshtm.ac.uk