U.S. Trauma Center Surveys
1991 - 2006
What is it?
Over the past 15 years that Brain Trauma Foundation has done national surveys, general compliance with the BTF guidelines has risen from 30% to 75%. However, there remains persistent variability in practice. Severely brain injured patients spend the most critical days of their lives in trauma centers under the care of a variety of specialists who are key to achieving improvements in outcome. Understanding the process of how TBI care is given by these specialists through national surveys, allows BTF to bridge gaps in knowledge and improve patient care.
The first survey of U.S. trauma centers, conducted by BTF in 1991 and published in 1995, revealed considerable variability in head injury care. The survey results led to the development of BTF’s Guidelines for the Management of Severe Head Injury.
Nine years later, through a grant from the Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, BTF again surveyed medical personnel in trauma centers throughout the country. This second study obtained information regarding the current treatment of TBI patients while in the intensive care unit. The completed survey helped in the development and dissemination of new curriculum for all healthcare professionals caring for TBI patients.
BTF completed a third survey in 2006, and it was published in the October 2007 Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection & Critical Care.
