Reducing "cry wolf" - Changing trauma team activation at a pediatric trauma centre

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To improve utilization of scarce surgical resources, we changed from a single tier trauma paging system (TPS) to a three tiered TPS at a tertiary pediatric trauma center. We investigated if patients were appropriately classified into the three levels of trauma team activation. METHODS: Trauma registry data were used to review data 12 months before and after implementation of a three tiered TPS (level I entire team present, level II surgical subspecialties within 10 minutes, level III emergency department team only at patient arrival). We correlated TPS activation with proxies of injury severity (admission status and major/nonmajor trauma). RESULTS: There were 192 activations duri..