The Temporal and Financial Costs of Trauma Activation Wait Times

BackgroundLevel 1 Trauma Centers alert hospital staff in advance of a trauma patient's arrival to allow time for trauma team assembly and preparedness. Excess staff wait times may result in reduced trauma center productivity and efficiency. The objective of this study was to explore the wait time expended by various hospital staff in anticipation of trauma patient arrivals and calculate cost and adequacy of preparation time.MethodsThis prospective observational study recorded a sample of wait times for trauma team staff members at an urban Level 1 Trauma Center for 12 months. We observed 288 trauma activations in total. We constructed a dataset of notification alerts, patient arrival times, staff arrival, and wait times, along with a qualitative staff assessment of time to prepare for the trauma patient's arrival. We applied detailed salary data to quantify the financial cost of Trauma Center staff wait time.ResultsWhen staff waited for a trauma patient's arrival, average wait times ranged from 4.27 to 10.67 minutes. This cost $139 791.65 during calendar year 2023 at our hospital. Staff had enough time to arrive at trauma incidents 99.1% of the time. In 4.2% of cases (n = 12), staff had no advance notification of an incoming trauma patient.DiscussionWe find that a longer duration between the issuance of alerts and the actual arrival of trauma patients represents a direct financial cost attributable to lost productivity in addition to indirect and cascading effects on operational efficiency and patient care.