{"title":"Evaluation of a facility-specific, prehospital transport policy for trauma patients in a health region of New Zealand.","authors":"Alastair Smith, Sheena Moosa, Grant Christey","doi":"10.26635/6965.6875","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>A facility-specific, prehospital trauma destination matrix has been implemented in the Te Manawa Taki (TMT)/Midland Region of Aotearoa New Zealand to support decisions on the most appropriate destination hospital for injured patients. This study evaluates the implementation of this policy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Injury data obtained from the TMT Trauma Registry were linked with Global Positioning System (GPS) data from Hato Hone St John and Land Information New Zealand Data Service for trauma events within the region from 1 January to 31 December 2023. Analysis of spatial relationships between injury location, specific injuries and hospital admission was performed using ArcGIS and R statistical programming.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 214 trauma events met the TMT Matrix criteria, of which 163 (76.1%) were transported to a hospital consistent with the destination specified. Lowest consistency (43.8%) of prehospital transport was seen with severe traumatic brain injury likely to require neurosurgery among adults aged >15 years. Approximately 32% of patients with matrix conditions requiring direct transport were lower severity (Injury Severity Score [ISS] <13). When the specified destination was that closest to the incident, there was 93.9% TMT Matrix consistency. Patients with a TMT Matrix condition who did not go directly to the defined facility and had a subsequent transfer took a median 10.5 hours to reach the defined facility.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The majority of trauma patient transports were consistent with the TMT prehospital matrix. A primary influence on compliance was the distance from point of injury to designated facility. This study prompts further exploration of factors associated with appropriate prehospital triage and refinement of TMT prehospital destination policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":48086,"journal":{"name":"NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL","volume":"138 1618","pages":"48-59"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.26635/6965.6875","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aim: A facility-specific, prehospital trauma destination matrix has been implemented in the Te Manawa Taki (TMT)/Midland Region of Aotearoa New Zealand to support decisions on the most appropriate destination hospital for injured patients. This study evaluates the implementation of this policy.
Methods: Injury data obtained from the TMT Trauma Registry were linked with Global Positioning System (GPS) data from Hato Hone St John and Land Information New Zealand Data Service for trauma events within the region from 1 January to 31 December 2023. Analysis of spatial relationships between injury location, specific injuries and hospital admission was performed using ArcGIS and R statistical programming.
Results: A total of 214 trauma events met the TMT Matrix criteria, of which 163 (76.1%) were transported to a hospital consistent with the destination specified. Lowest consistency (43.8%) of prehospital transport was seen with severe traumatic brain injury likely to require neurosurgery among adults aged >15 years. Approximately 32% of patients with matrix conditions requiring direct transport were lower severity (Injury Severity Score [ISS] <13). When the specified destination was that closest to the incident, there was 93.9% TMT Matrix consistency. Patients with a TMT Matrix condition who did not go directly to the defined facility and had a subsequent transfer took a median 10.5 hours to reach the defined facility.
Conclusions: The majority of trauma patient transports were consistent with the TMT prehospital matrix. A primary influence on compliance was the distance from point of injury to designated facility. This study prompts further exploration of factors associated with appropriate prehospital triage and refinement of TMT prehospital destination policy.
目的:在新西兰奥特罗阿的马纳瓦塔基(TMT)/米德兰地区实施了一项针对特定设施的院前创伤目的地矩阵,以支持决定最适合受伤患者的目的地医院。本研究评估了该政策的实施情况。方法:从TMT创伤登记处获得的损伤数据与Hato Hone St John和Land Information New Zealand data Service的全球定位系统(GPS)数据相关联,用于2023年1月1日至12月31日该地区的创伤事件。利用ArcGIS和R统计程序分析损伤部位、特异性损伤与住院之间的空间关系。结果:214例创伤事件符合TMT矩阵标准,其中163例(76.1%)被送往符合目的地的医院。在bb0 ~ 15岁的成人中,可能需要进行神经外科手术的严重创伤性脑损伤患者院前转运的一致性最低(43.8%)。大约32%需要直接转运的基质条件患者的严重程度较低(损伤严重程度评分[ISS])。结论:大多数创伤患者转运符合TMT院前基质。影响遵守规定的主要因素是从受伤点到指定设施的距离。本研究提示进一步探讨适当的院前分诊和完善TMT院前目的地政策的相关因素。