Development of Statewide Geriatric Patients Trauma Triage Criteria

Introduction: The geriatric population is unique in the type of traumatic injuries sustained, physiological responses to those injuries, and an overall higher mortality when compared to younger adults. No published, evidence-based, geriatric-specific field destination criteria exist as part of a statewide trauma system. The Trauma Committee of the Ohio Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Board sought to develop specific criteria for geriatric trauma victims. Methods: A literature search was conducted for all relevant literature to determine potential, geriatric-specific, field-destination criteria. Data from the Ohio Trauma Registry were used to compare elderly patients, defined as age >70 years, to all patients between the ages of 16 to 69 years with regards to mortality risk in the following areas: (1) Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score; (2) systolic blood pressure (SBP); (3) falls associated with head, chest, abdominal or spinal injury; (4) mechanism of injury; (5) involvement of more than one body system as defined in the Barell matrix; and (6) co-morbidities and motor vehicle collision with one or more long bone fracture. For GCS score and SBP, those cut-off points with equal or greater risk of mortality as compared to current values were chosen as proposed triage criteria. For other measures, any criterion demonstrating a statistically significant increase in mortality risk was included in the proposed criteria. Results: The following criteria were identified as geriatric-specific criteria: (1) GCS score