A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted of 525 high-risk automobile accident victims. Data collected from Natividad Medical Center's trauma registry were used to analyze reports of adult patients from July 1 2014 to July 1 2017. 15 patients were victims of high-risk accidents with a death in the same compartment. These patients were compared with the other 510 patients.

Out of 15 patients who had death in same compartment, 2 (13%) were identified to have ISS >15 and 1 (6.7%) expired. Odds of severe injury (ISS >15) were not significantly different between groups [OR 0.73 95% CI 0.16-3.3]. Odds of death between the two groups were not significantly different [OR 2.0 95% CI 0.25-17]. Mean ISS between the two groups was not significant [9.1 ± 6.3 vs 8.3 ± 0.7 P=0.8].

Triage criteria guide treatment protocols for emergency providers responding to motor vehicle crashes (MVC). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for field triage are based on physiologic and anatomic criteria, as well as mechanism of injury and special considerations . They define a MVC as “high-risk” if any of the following are identified:

• Intrusion, including roof: >12 inches occupant site; >18 inches any site
• Ejection (partial or complete) from automobile
• Death in same passenger compartment
• Vehicle telemetry data consistent with a high risk for injury

“Death in the same compartment” is included in the Trauma Activation Criteria at most trauma facilities, however there is limited data to justify this designation. At our Level 2 Trauma Center in Central California, there are often uninjured MVC victims where a death in the same compartment occurred, often because of seatbelt use. Our objective was to validate "death in the same compartment" as an activation criterion by analyzing Injury Severity Score (ISS) and mortality.

Natividad Medical Center (NMC) has a Level 2 Trauma center that serves Monterey County in Central California. Our study analyzed demographics and individual trauma criteria collected from patients admitted to NMC's Level 2 Trauma Service following high-risk automobile crash. Injury Severity Score (ISS) was used to stratify patient injury severity on presentation; major trauma was defined as having an ISS >15 [2]. Mortality was analyzed as our secondary endpoint. This study was approved by the Touro University-California Institutional Review Board.

Authors can submit their manuscript related topics like Trauma; motor vehicle death; injury severity by the email to our Journal Mail IDs trauma@emedicalsci.com or jtac@peerjournal.org or you can directly submit it in online Editorial tracking.

For further queries you can contact us any time 24×7 help line service available for the Journal of Trauma & Acute Care

Best Regards,
Editorial Team