Factors Affecting Traffic Crash Survivors’ Accessibility to a Trauma Center within the Golden Hour

Abstract

The Golden Hour has been used as an ideal measure of patients’ access to trauma centers. It isthe one hour after any traumatic event, including a traffic crash. It was shown that if patients canarrive at the hospital within one hour after a traumatic injury, the chances for survival increase.Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determining factors for patients involved in a trafficcrash to arrive at the trauma center within the Golden Hour. For this, four years (2018-2021) ofKansas traffic crash data were investigated. Among the eight factors analyzed in the study, thetime of the crash and lighting conditions were found to be the most important factors. The resultshowed that crashes that occurred when it was dark with no streetlights experienced the highesttotal transport time (TTT), which was 61.3 minutes. It may be an indication that crashes withlonger TTT occurred in rural remote locations. TTT did not exceed the Golden Hour for anyother factor. This study also showed that the distance between the crash location and the traumacenter was not the only factor for increased total transport time (TTT). For example, crashesoccurring within 5 miles of trauma centers can experience TTT higher than 60 minutes. Thiscould happen if a crash goes unnoticed for a long period of time or if time is needed to extricatethe patients.