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Staffing in a Level 1 Trauma Center: Quantifying Capacity for Preparedness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2021

Kaitlin Woods ,
J.W. Awori Hayanga ,
Jeffrey Cannon ,
Wesley Lemons ,
Michael Philips ,
Ashley Schmidt ,
Roosevelt Boh ,
Kinza Noor ,
Lisa Fornaresio  and
Dylan Thibault
...Show all authors
Kaitlin Woods
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
J.W. Awori Hayanga
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Jeffrey Cannon
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Wesley Lemons
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Michael Philips
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Ashley Schmidt
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Laboratory Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Roosevelt Boh
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Kinza Noor
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Lisa Fornaresio
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Dylan Thibault
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
PS Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Alison Wilson
Affiliation:
Division of Trauma, Acute Care Surgery & Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Heather K. Hayanga*
Affiliation:
Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
*
Corresponding author: Heather Hayanga, Email: heather.hayanga@wvumedicine.org.
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Abstract

Objective:

We sought to determine who is involved in the care of a trauma patient.

Methods:

We recorded hospital personnel involved in 24 adult Priority 1 trauma patient admissions for 12 h or until patient demise. Hospital personnel were delineated by professional background and role.

Results:

We cataloged 19 males and 5 females with a median age of 50-y-old (interquartile range [IQR], 35.5-67.5). The average number of hospital personnel involved was 79.71 (standard deviation, 17.62; standard error 3.6). A median of 51.2% (IQR, 43.4%-59.8%) of personnel were first involved within hour 1. More personnel were involved in direct versus indirect care (median 54.5 [IQR, 47.5-67.0] vs 25.0 [IQR, 22.0-30.5]; P < 0.0001). Median number of health-care professionals and auxiliary staff were 74.5 (IQR, 63.5-90.5) and 6.0 (IQR, 5.0-7.0), respectively. More personnel were first involved in hospital locations external to the emergency department (median, 53.0 [IQR, 41.5-63.0] vs 27.5 [IQR, 24.0-30.0]; P < 0.0001). No differences existed in total personnel by Injury Severity Score (P = 0.1266), day (P = 0.7270), or time of admission (P = 0.2098).

Conclusions:

A large number of hospital personnel with varying job responsibilities respond to severe trauma. These data may guide hospital staffing and disaster preparedness policies.

Keywords

decision-makingorganizationaldisaster planningmass casualty incidentspolicy-making
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 1990 - 1996
Copyright
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021

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