For decades, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACSCOT) has published Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient, which outlines specific criteria necessary to be verified by the college as a trauma center, including having an organized and effective approach to prevention of trauma. However, the document provides little public health-specific guidance to assist trauma centers with developing these approaches. An advisory panel was convened in 2017 with representatives from national trauma and public health organizations with the purpose of identifying strategies to support trauma centers in the development of a public health approach to injury and violence prevention and to better integrate these efforts with those of local and state public health departments. This panel developed the Standards and Indicators for Model Level I and II Trauma Center Injury and Violence Prevention Programs. The document outlines five, consensus-based core components of a model injury and violence prevention program: (1) leadership, (2) resources, (3) data, (4) effective interventions, and (5) partnerships. We think this document provides the missing public health guidance and is an essential resource to trauma centers for effectively addressing injury and violence in our communities. We recommend the Standards and Indicators be referenced in the injury prevention chapter of the upcoming revision of ACSCOT's Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient as guidance for the development, implementation and evaluation of injury prevention programs and be used as a framework for program presentation during ACSCOT verification visits.

Background

COVID-19 challenged U.S. trauma centers to grapple with demands for expanded services with finite resources while also experiencing a concurrent increase in violent injuries.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of COVID-19 on the roles and duties of U.S. hospital-based injury prevention professionals.

Methods

This descriptive cross-sectional survey study of hospital-based injury prevention professionals was conducted between June 2021 and August 2021. Participants were recruited from six organizational members of the national Trauma Prevention Coalition, including the American Trauma Society, Emergency Nurses Association, Injury Free Coalition for Kids, Safe States Alliance, Society for Trauma Nurses, and Trauma Center Association of America. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results

A total of 216 participants affiliated with 227 trauma centers responded. The following changes were reported during 2020: change in injury prevention position (range = 31%-88%); change in duties (range = 92%-100%); and change to hospital-based injury prevention programs (range = 75%-100%). Sixty-one (43%) single-center participants with a registered nurse license were reassigned to clinical duties compared with six (10%) nonlicensed participants (OR = 5.6; 95% CI [1.96, 13.57]; p < .001). Injury prevention programs at adult-only and combined adult and pediatric trauma centers had higher odds of suspension than pediatric-only trauma centers (OR = 3.6; 95% CI [1.26, 10.65]; p < .017).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 response exposed the persistent inequity and limited prioritization of injury prevention programming as a key deliverable for trauma centers.

UC Davis Health has a "Blackout Flag" policy (1190) that is used in trauma care settings to restrict visitors from the patient. The policy's intended goal is to protect patients from potential harmful visitors, especially in ongoing investigations. This policy may impair history taking and well-informed treatments because it restricts knowledge provided by visitors and loved ones. Often placed by police, this policy may be disproportionally applied to patients from marginalized backgrounds and may perpetuate medical distrust.