Should Trauma Patients Be Transported by Police Officers?

The Research
Wandling MW, Nathens AB, Shapiro MB, et al. Police transport versus ground EMS: A trauma system-level evaluation of prehospital care policies and their effect on clinical outcomes. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2016;81(5):931–935.
The Science
Data was drawn from the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) for adult patients with gunshot and stab wounds transported to a Level 1 or 2 trauma center in the 100 most populous U.S. cities from 2010–2012. The death rate was calculated for those who arrived by police transport compared to those transported by ground EMS.
Researchers identified 88,564 patients, of which 86,097 (97.2%) were transported by EMS and 2,467 (2.8%) by police. Unadjusted mortality was 17.7% for police transport and 11.6% for ground EMS.
After risk adjustment, patients transported by police were no more likely to die than those transported by EMS (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.69–1.45). Three urban cities (Philadelphia, Detroit and Sacramento) represented 87% of the police transports.
It was concluded that the mortality rate was no worse for patients transported by law enforcement as compared to traditional EMS. Furthermore, the three urban centers identified should be considered for future study and analysis of this subject.
Medic Wesley Comments
I think this study makes the point that rapid transport with BLS vs. on-scene ALS care doesn't worsen the survivability of penetrating trauma patients in urban areas. The authors state that it's a feasible option to ha...

Source: JEMS Patient Care - February 1, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Keith Wesley, MD, FACEP Tags: Major Incidents Patient Care Columns Source Type: news