Do ambulance crews triage trauma patients?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ambulance crew triage trauma patients appropriately. DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive study. SETTINGS: Cornwall County Ambulance Service. VARIABLES STUDIED: On-scene times, injury severity, establishment of intravenous infusion and time from scene to A&E department. SUBJECTS: Patients with compound fracture of the lower limb taken to Truro Accident and Emergency department. OUTCOME MEASURES: Ambulance service on-scene times and mission times. RESULTS: Ambulance crew do not appear to be triaging patients appropriately. Excessive time is being spent on pre-hospital stabilization. Delivery of patients to a casualty department is delayed. CONCLUSION: At present the activities of paramedics are poorly supervised, and pre-hospital management by paramedics may be jeopardizing patient care.