Do prehospital trauma center triage criteria identify major trauma victims ? Paper presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Western Trauma Association, Crested Butte, Colorado, February 28 - March 4, 1994.

The objective of this study was to evaluate prehospital triage criteria as indicators of a major trauma victim (MTV). Anatomic, physiologic and mechanism of injury prehospital trauma center triage criteria were evaluated in a state without a trauma system or trauma center designation. The subjective criterion of provider "gut feeling" was also employed. Injured patients treated by EMS personnel state wide during one year were prospectively entered into the study if at least one triage criterion was met. Mortality and yield of MTV's were determined for each criterion applied singularly and in combination with one or more others. MTV was defined as having a retrospectively calculated ISS ¾ 16.