Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Oct 2020
Factors associated with EMS transport decisions for pediatric patients after motor vehicle collisions.
Prehospital non-transport events occur when emergency medicine service (EMS) providers respond to a scene, but the patient is ultimately not transported to a hospital for evaluation. The objective of this study was to determine the rate of non-transport of pediatric patients who were involved in a motor vehicle collision (MVC) and the factors associated with non-transport decisions. ⋯ Pediatric patients were not transported after EMS responded to an MVC in approximately one-third of cases, and there was considerable variation in the rate of non-transports based on geographic region, provider level, and time of day. The majority of non-transports occurred because patients were discharged against medical advice or the patient/caregiver refused transport, which may indicate conflicting priorities between EMS providers and patients.