Our goal at the Injury Center is to prevent injuries. Yet we know that despite all of our efforts, injuries will occur. So we believe it also is our professional responsibility to help ensure the best response when they do.
That’s why we’ve taken an increasingly active role in the intersection of public health and acute injury care. We’ve made significant investments in ensuring that injured patients get to the right emergency care facility for treatment.
Emergency medical service providers respond to about 16 million transport calls each year. When a person is injured, EMS providers have only minutes to decide which emergency facility is best for them. Our research shows that a severely injured person taken to a Level I trauma center has a 25% decreased risk of death. Yet not all injured persons can or should be transported to a Level I trauma center. So how do pre-hospital providers quickly make the decision that can make the difference in someone’s life?
We hope they use the Field Triage Decision Scheme. CDC, with the assistance of key partners and a panel of experts, updated this tool to help EMS providers make the on-the-scene decision about the level of care an injured person needs. The algorithm quickly leads EMS providers through a four-step process matching clinical needs of an injured patient to resources and expertise of a given facility, based on current best practices in trauma triage. The process and rationale used to revise the scheme were outlined earlier this year in a report on field triage.
On July 15, the CDC’s Dr. Richard Hunt will present a webcast to provide details of the newly revised Decision Scheme. He will also share encouraging news about using vehicle telematics to help EMS providers begin to evaluate those injured in motor vehicle crashes before they even arrive on the scene. I hope you’ll take a moment now to register for the webcast.
Help us implement the new Decision Scheme among the 1 million EMS providers across the country. Together, we can save lives, lessen disability and reduce costs from injuries, improving the lives of all Americans. That’s our job. We hope you will make it yours too.
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