Trauma Care and Outcomes for Urban and Rural Patients

Several studies have shown worse outcomes for patients with injuries that occur in rural versus urban settings, and have suggested that this may result from differences in injury severity, transport time, prehospital interventions, or access to trauma center care. To discriminate the effects of these factors, researchers conducted a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data on injuries, triage, field interventions, and outcomes for patients who called 911 for an injury in seven counties (5 urban, 2 rural) in Washington and Oregon during 2011.

Mean response times (10.1 vs. 6.3 minutes) and transport times (16.8 vs. 15.3 minutes) were significantly longer for rural patients than for urban patients (although perhaps less significantly …