Using trauma video review to search for the Goldilocks pre-activation time

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Trauma Surgery
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Trauma team activation protocols aim to optimize patient care.
• Team efficiency is crucial for improving outcomes in critical trauma cases.
• The optimal timing for pre-activation notification remains an area for investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the ideal pre-activation time for trauma teams to maximize efficiency.
• To identify a specific time window for pre-activation that minimizes time to complete critical actions (TCCAs).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of video-recorded trauma activations at a Level 1 trauma center.
• Calculation of 11 TCCA categories using video timestamps and normalization (nTCCAs).
• Categorization of pre-activation times into short (0-4 min), mid (4-7 min), and long (≥8 min) groups.

Main Results:

• A pre-activation time of 4-7 minutes was associated with the most efficient trauma teams.
• Mid pre-activation (4-7 min) resulted in significantly shorter normalized TCCAs compared to short or long pre-activation.
• A higher proportion of critical actions were completed faster than the median in the mid pre-activation group.

Conclusions:

• A pre-activation window of 4-7 minutes appears optimal for trauma team efficiency.
• This timeframe may represent an ideal window for trauma team activation protocols.
• Prospective and external validation of these findings is recommended.