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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Jennifer L. Jones1, A. Chantal Caviness, MD, MPH2, Michael A. DeGuzman, MPH1, and Joan E. Shook, MD MBA2. (1) Baylor Injury Center, Baylor College of Medicine, 6621 Fannin St, MC1-1481, Houston, TX 77030, (2) Department of Pediatrics Section of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 6621 Fannin St, MC1-1481, Houston, TX 77030
Objective: To determine the effect of restraint use on pediatric patient transports by emergency medical service (EMS) providers.
Methods: Children less than 16 years of age who were involved in motor vehicle crashes in Houston or Harris County, Texas in 1997, were identified from Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) crash data. DPS data were linked probabilistically to City of Houston Fire Department EMS data to identify whether they were transported from the scene by EMS. Logistic regression was used to control for age and injury severity.
Results: From the linked data for 1997, 1714 children were involved in reported automobile or truck crashes to which EMS responded. Of the 1580 children on whom information about restraint use was available, 83 percent were wearing some type of safety restraint and 85 percent were transported by EMS. Adjusting for injury severity, children wearing safety restraints were 60 percent (95% CI 34-75 percent) less likely to be transported by EMS than those not wearing safety restraints during motor vehicle crashes.
Conclusions: The use of safety restraints in motor vehicle crashes reduces emergency medical service utilization by reducing the number of children transported from the scene for a higher level of medical care. This effect is independent of age and injury severity.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.