Poor access to trauma centers associated with higher prehopital mortality

Editor's Note

States with poor access to trauma centers have more deaths before injured patients arrive at the hospital than states with better access, finds this study presented October 22 at the American College of Surgeons 2018 Clinical Congress in Boston.

Overall, the largest percentage of trauma deaths occurred before hospital arrival (49%), compared with 42% of in-hospital deaths.

Researchers found an association between states with a high prehospital death rate and a lower proportion of the state’s population with 1-hour access to a Level I or II trauma center. Only 63.2% of the population in high prehosptial death states had timely access to care versus 90.2% in the other states.

If all states had the same prehospital:in-hospital death ratio as the states with the best trauma center access, 7,601 prehospital trauma deaths could be prevented per year, the researchers say.