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Driving Time to Trauma Centers for Children Living in Wisconsin
Keon Young Park1, Benjamin L Eithun2, Jeffrey Havlena3,4
1Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Insights
Most Wisconsin children lack proximity to a Level I pediatric trauma center (PTC). However, the majority are within a 30-minute drive of Level III and IV trauma centers, highlighting the need to resource these facilities for pediatric care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric trauma care accessibility
- Geospatial analysis of healthcare access
- Public health resource allocation
Background:
- Trauma is the leading cause of death in children.
- Access to definitive trauma care significantly impacts outcomes.
- Limited availability of designated pediatric trauma centers (PTCs) necessitates understanding geographic disparities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the precise driving distances for all children in Wisconsin to designated trauma centers.
- To inform resource allocation and advocacy for pediatric trauma care in Wisconsin.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 2010 US Census data for ZIP-centroid geolocation.
- Identified Wisconsin trauma facilities using the Department of Health Services trauma classification database.
- Calculated driving distances using SAS routines and the Google Maps API, quantifying children within 30- and 60-minute drives of trauma centers.
Main Results:
- Only 31.3% of Wisconsin children are within a 30-minute drive of a Level I PTC.
- 32.7% of children are within 30 minutes of a Level II PTC.
- A significant majority (81.3% and 74.6%) are within 30 minutes of Level III and IV trauma centers, respectively.
Conclusions:
- Two-thirds of Wisconsin children live more than 30 minutes from a Level I PTC.
- Most children have access to Level III and IV trauma centers within 30 minutes.
- Smaller trauma centers, serving as the closest facilities for most children, require adequate resourcing for pediatric trauma care.
Introduction:
Trauma is the number 1 cause of death among children. Shorter distance to definitive trauma care has been correlated with better clinical outcomes. There are only a small number of pediatric trauma centers (PTC) designated by the American College of Surgeons, and the resources available to treat injured children at non-PTCs are limited. To guide resource allocation and advocacy efforts for pediatric trauma care in Wisconsin, we determined the precise distance to trauma centers for all children living in the state.
Methods:
The 2010 US Census data was used to determine ZIP-centroid geolocation. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services trauma classification database was used to identify trauma facilities in Wisconsin. SAS routines invoking the Google Maps application programming interface were used to calculate the driving distance to each of the trauma facilities. We quantified the percentage of children living within 30- and 60-minute driving distances of level I-IV trauma centers.
Results:
Just 31.3% of Wisconsin children live within a 30-minute drive of a level I PTC; 32.7% live within 30 minutes of a level II center; 81.3% within 30 minutes of a level III center; and 74.6% within 30 minutes of a level IV center.
Conclusion:
Two-thirds of children in Wisconsin live beyond a 30-minute driving distance of a level I PTC, but most children live within 30 minutes of level III and IV trauma centers. As the closest hospitals for most children, smaller trauma centers should be adequately resourced to provide pediatric trauma care.
