Maritza D. Essis Ursula Barghouth David Moore Kendra Colbert Jeffrey Johnson
Henry Ford Health System
05-01-2019
Introduction: Current data suggest trauma patients arriving via private vehicle transport (PVT) have improved outcomes compared to patients arriving via EMS due to quicker hospital arrival. Though som..
Introduction: Current data suggest trauma patients arriving via private vehicle transport (PVT) have improved outcomes compared to patients arriving via EMS due to quicker hospital arrival. Though some researchers have speculated that this may be due to a quicker arrival to the hospital, arrival by PVT may actually impair resuscitation efforts due to the lack of pre-hospital triage leading to delayed mobilization of teams, patient drop-offs at the wrong location, more frequent transfers to another facility, and the transport of patients who may have otherwise been declared dead on scene. This study hypothesizes PVT actually lengthens time to care, impairs resuscitation efforts, and increases overall costs due to the lack of pre-hospital triage. Methods: This is a single-site retrospective study conducted at an academic, regional, Level 1 Trauma Center in Detroit from 2013-2017. Inclusion criteria were trauma patients presenting to the hospital utilizing PVT that were admitted, died in the emergency department, or transferred out of hospital. Exclusion criteria include patients transferred from outside hospitals. Patients with the same inclusion and exclusion criteria utilizing EMS transportation were the comparison group (N=4997, PVT n=1782). The data were obtained from a trauma registry and chart review. To describe statistical significance (p