• Ryan Huebinger, Hei Kit Chan, Justin Reed, N Clay Mann, Benjamin Fisher, and Lesley Osborn.
• McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Department of Emergency Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America; Texas Emergency Medicine Research Center, Houston, TX, United States of America. Electronic address: ryan.m.huebinger@uth.tmc.edu.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2023 Oct 1; 72: 183187183-187.

ObjectivePrior studies identified increased penetrating trauma rates during the earlier phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is limited study of penetrating trauma rates in 2021 or at a national level. We evaluated trends in prehospital encounters for penetrating trauma in 2020 and 2021 using a national database.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of the National Emergency Medicinal Services (EMS) Information System (NEMSIS) combined 2018-2021 databases of prehospital encounters. We calculated penetrating trauma yearly and monthly rates with 95% confidence; both overall and for each census region. We compared trauma rates in 2020 and 2021 to combined 2018/2019.ResultsThere were 67,457 (rate of 0.30%) penetrating traumas in 2018, 86,054 (0.30%) in 2019, 95,750 (0.37%) in 2020, and 98,040 (0.34%) in 2021. Nationally, trauma rates were higher from March 2020 to July 2021 than baseline. Penetrating trauma rates from May-December 2021 were lower than May-December of 2020. All census regions similarly had increased trauma rates during from March 2020 to July 2021.ConclusionWe identified elevated rates of trauma on 2020 that lasted until July of 2021 that was present in all US census regions.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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