Author/Authors :
Charles Sifford, Mason University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Dailey, R University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Hutchison, M Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services, Little Rock, AR, USA , Mason, C Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services, Little Rock, AR, USA , Kimbrough, K University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Davis, B University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Bhavaraju , A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , K Jensen, H University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Robertson, R University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Taylor, J University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Beck, W.C University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA , Sexton, Kevin University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
Abstract :
Background: The precision of emergency medical services (EMS) triage criteria dictates whether
an injured patient receives appropriate care. The trauma triage protocol is a decision scheme
that groups patients into triage categories of major, moderate and minor. We hypothesized
that there is a difference between trauma triage category and injury severity score (ISS).
Methods: This retrospective, observational study was conducted to investigate a difference
between trauma triage category and ISS. Bivariate analysis was used to test for differences
between the subgroup means. The differences between the group means on each measure were
analyzed for direction and statistical significance using ANOVA for continuous variables and chi
square tests for categorical variables. Logistic and linear regressions were performed to
evaluate factors predicting mortality, ICU length of stay.
Results: With respect to trauma triage category, our findings indicate that minor and moderate
triage categories are similar with respect to ISS, GCS, ICU LOS, hospital LOS, and mortality.
However, after excluding for low impact injuries (falls), differences between the minor and
moderate categories were evident when comparing to ISS, GCS, ICU LOS, and hospital LOS.
Additionally, after excluding for low impact injures, ISS, ICU LOS, and hospital stay were found
to correlate well with trauma triage category.
Conclusion: In this retrospective, observational study significant differences were not seen when
comparing ISS with the trauma triage categories of moderate and minor during our initial
analysis. However, a difference was found after excluding for low impact injuries. These
findings suggest that CDC criteria accurately predicts outcomes in high impact trauma.
