TRANSCENDING TRAUMA
( continued from page 13 ) progressive rise in gun violence has affected many communities in the US and has been written about before in this journal . The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on injury patterns will likely be studied for years to come by individual trauma centers , regional and state networks of trauma centers and national data sources . The early analysis , though , suggests that COVID-19-induced effects on injury patterns will vary depending on many local and community factors . In our area , however , 2020 brought no significant reductions in the public health impact of traumatic injury . The COVID-19 pandemic has consumed vast resources and hours of effort at all levels of health care to deal with the consequences of this once-in-a-lifetime ( we hope ) disease . Even though extensive public health efforts focused on reducing the spread and impact of COVID-19 in 2020 , the impact of traumatic injury on our community continued unabated throughout the pandemic . Traumatic injury remains an important public health problem affecting all levels of society . It deserves our continued attention .
References
1
Warwick JW , Davenport DL , Bettis A , Bernard AC . Association of prehospital Step 1 vital sign criteria and vital sign decline with increased emergency department and hospital death . J Am Coll Surg 2021 ; 232 : 572-579 .
2
Matthay ZA , Kornblith AE , Matthay EC , Sedaghati M , Peterson S , Boeck T , Campbell A , Chalwell L , Colwell C , Farrell MS , Kim WC , Knudson MM , Mackersie R , Li L , Nunez-Garcia B , Langness S , Plevin RE , Sammann A , Tesoriero R , Stein DM , Kornblith LZ . The DISTANCE study : determining the impact of social distancing on trauma epidemiology during the COVID-19 pandemic- an interrupted time-series analysis . J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2021 ; 90 : 700-707 .
3
Chiba H , Lewis M , Benjamin ER , Jakob DA , Liasidis P , Wong MD , Navarrete S , Carreon R , Demetriades D . “ Safer at home ”: the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on epidemiology , resource utilization , and outcomes at a large urban trauma center . J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2021 ; 90 : 708-713 .
Acknowledgement :
Figures provided by Samantha Baker AS , CAISS , Trauma Registry Manager at University of Louisville Hospital .
Dr . Harbrecht is a Professor of Surgery in the Hiram C . Polk Jr MD Department of Surgery at the University of Louisville and the Trauma Medical Director at University of Louisville Hospital .
14 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
FIGURE 1 : TRAUMA ADMISSIONS PER CALENDAR YEAR .
FIGURE 2 : MECHANISM OF INJURY FOR 2018-2020 .
FIGURE 3 : DISTRIBUTION OF INJURIES BASED ON INJURY SEVERITY SCALE ( ISS ).