• David W Wright, Robert Todd Lancaster, Jonathan J Ratcliff, Douglas W Lowery, and Marlena M Wald.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. dwwrigh@emory.edu
• Acad Emerg Med. 2004 Feb 1; 11 (2): 204-7.

ObjectivesTo describe the availability of next-of-kin (NOK) for proxy consent over the 24-hour time period following presentation of major trauma patients to a Level I trauma center.MethodsThe study was conducted by using a prospective, observational study design. Consecutive patients meeting predefined major trauma criteria during a three-month study period were enrolled and followed until NOK were contacted, or up to 24 hours. Survival analysis was used to determine the probability of NOK contact during the 24-hour follow-up period.ResultsThree hundred fifty (92%) of 382 subjects had NOK contacted during the follow-up period. The probabilities (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of NOK contact at the time of arrival (t = 0) and 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours postpresentation were 0.25 (95% CI = 0.21 to 0.30), 0.68 (95% CI = 0.63 to 0.72), 0.77 (95% CI = 0.73 to 0.82), 0.80 (95% CI = 0.76 to 0.84), and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.84 to 0.90), respectively. The median time to contact was 40 minutes (95% CI = 27 to 54 min).ConclusionsOne third of the trauma patients in this study did not have NOK available two hours following arrival in the emergency department. For time-critical research protocols, the time to NOK contact can significantly impact the ability to ensure prompt enrollment and treatment in clinical trials. Further studies are needed to assess the generalizability and consistency of these data.

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