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Does out-of-hospital EMS time affect trauma survival?
S Feero1, J R Hedges, E Simmons
1Emergency Department, St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, WA.
The American Journal of Emergency Medicine
|March 1, 1995
Summary
Shorter out-of-hospital times for emergency medical services (EMS) are linked to better survival in urban major trauma patients. Rapid response and transport are critical for unexpected survival outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Trauma Surgery
- Public Health
Background:
- Major trauma patient outcomes are influenced by pre-hospital care.
- Optimizing emergency medical services (EMS) time intervals is crucial for improving survival rates in urban trauma settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between out-of-hospital EMS time intervals and unexpected survival or death in urban major trauma cases.
- To compare EMS response, on-scene, transport, and total out-of-hospital times between unexpected survivors and deaths.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 848 major trauma cases within an urban trauma system.
- TRISS methodology used to identify patients with unexpected survival or death.
- Unpaired t-tests compared EMS time intervals between the two patient groups.
Main Results:
- Unexpected survivors had significantly shorter mean out-of-hospital response times (3.5 vs. 5.9 minutes, P=.04).
- Total EMS out-of-hospital time was significantly shorter for unexpected survivors (20.8 vs. 29.3 minutes, P=.02).
- On-scene and transport times also favored unexpected survivors, though not always statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- A shorter total out-of-hospital EMS time interval may positively impact survival in select urban major trauma patients.
- Efficient EMS response and transport are associated with improved outcomes in major trauma care.