Title: Pre-hospital Decisions after Major Trauma among Older Adults
Injuries among older adults can lead to severe physical and psychological morbidity and death. Decisions made in the pre-hospital care setting, including the type of ambulance service and the hospital destination, have consequences, but are largely made without good evidence. Though emergency medical systems in the United States have largely been designed to provide specialized care through advanced life support ambulances and trauma centers, there are trade-offs at play in these policy choices. Using Medicare claims data, this talk will describe research that aims to build the evidence base on this topic, including a comparative effectiveness analysis of advanced vs. basic life support ambulances and an evaluation of trauma center vs. non-trauma center care.