EMS Trauma Measures
Santa Clara County has a robust Trauma System. For a full in-depth comprehensive report, please review the 2015 Annual Trauma Report. Below are some highlights as they relate to the prehospital setting.
Median scene time (“at scene time” to “departed scene time”) ranged from 15 to 19 minutes when categorized by the Injury Severity Score (ISS). The chart demonstrates that EMS crews have shorter scene times with our more injured patients, as the scene time decreases with an increase in ISS score. The American College of Surgeons uses a benchmark of 20 minutes. The SCC EMS meets those time benchmarks for all categories. ISS scores can be broken into different categories identifying minor (0-8), moderate (9-24) and severe (>24) injuries.
Median total prehospital time (dispatch to hospital arrival) ranged from 42 to 48 minutes when categorized by the Injury Severity Score. These prehospital times fall within the “golden hour” where the best chance for survival following a traumatic injury occurs when the injured person is seen and treated within an hour of the event. Data from the 2014 National Trauma Data Bank Annual Report reflects median total prehospital time ranging from 45 to 60 minutes for ISS categories. SCC is well below the national trends.
Time (in minutes) from the time the ground ambulance arrives at the scene until the time the ambulance departs from the scene for trauma patients.
EMS CQI Measures: