The “Golden Hour” and field triage pattern for road trauma patients

Introduction: Although the term “golden hour” is a well-known concept among trauma system and emergency medical service providers, the relationship between time and trauma patient outcome and the process of prehospital care for road trauma patients in rural settings are poorly understood. As the underlying basis for triage decision-making, the estimated transport interval to trauma center is usually absent in the existing studies. Method: In this study, the crash data between 2013 and 2017 were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, and the estimated intervals were calculated by using a Geographic Information System software. By comparing the estimated intervals with actual emergency medical services records, the field triage patterns for road patients were investigated at the state and county levels. Results and Conclusions: With the help of the interval prediction maps, the different triage patterns among counties were identified. Further, the average fatalities per 100,000 population by county from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were adopted to clarify the associated outcomes. The linear regression analysis results revealed that, for most states, all intervals except the notification interval had a significant correlation with the mortality. The estimated interval had a more significant relationship with the mortality than the actual transport interval. Practical applications: These findings indicated that adhering to the “golden hour” without regarding the destination may not be helpful for the survival of road trauma patients. The regression analyses and the interval maps can be used to identify patterns of inappropriate destination selection so that prospective decision-making can be improved.