Clinical SurgeryChanges in rural trauma prehospital times following the Rural Trauma Team Development Course training

- In US, most people live in urban areas, yet more than half of all trauma deaths occur in rural areas.
- The ACS Committee on Trauma developed the Rural Trauma Team Development Course (RTTDC).
- RTTDC detects those requiring care at higher level trauma centers within 15 minutes.
- We aimed to determine if RTTDC training is associated with early evaluation and transfer.
- Transfer acceptance time was significantly shorter after the RTTDC training.
- The overall transfer time was also significantly reduced following the RTTDC training.
- Mortality was nearly halved after the RTTDC training.
- RTTDC training was associated with reduced transfer acceptance time and shorter transfer time.

BackgroundThe majority of the US population live in urban areas, yet more than half of all trauma deaths occur in rural areas. The Rural Trauma Team Development Course (RTTDC) is developed to improve the outcomes of rural trauma and we aimed to study its effect on patient transfer.MethodsTrauma referrals 2 years before the RTTDC training were compared with referrals 2 years after the course.ResultsOf the 276 studied patients, 97 were referred before the RTTDC training and 179 patients were referred after the course. Transfer acceptance time was significantly shorter after the RTTDC training (139.2 ± 87.1 vs 110 ± 66.3 min, P = .003). The overall transfer time was also significantly reduced following the RTTDC training (257.4 ± 110.8 vs 219.2 ± 86.5 min, P = .002). Patients receiving pretransfer imaging had a significantly higher transfer time both before and after RTTDC training (all Ps < .01). Mortality was nearly halved (6.2% vs 3.4%) after the RTTDC training.ConclusionThe RTTDC training was associated with reduced transfer acceptance time and reduced transfer time.