The journal of trauma and acute care surgery
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J Trauma Acute Care Surg · Oct 2013
Distracted driving behaviors of adults while children are in the car.
Cell phone use while driving is common and can result in driver distraction. However, data on the frequency of this behavior with other occupants in the vehicle are lacking. This study investigates whether adult drivers engage in cell phone use with passengers in the car and determines whether the frequency of these behaviors was modified if the passenger was a child. ⋯ Cell phone use while driving is common. Distracted driving behaviors, although less frequent, persist when children are passengers in the vehicle. Further research into the effect of cell phone-related distracted driving behaviors of adults with child passengers is needed to address this public health concern.
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J Trauma Acute Care Surg · Oct 2013
The effect of trauma center care on pediatric injury mortality in California, 1999 to 2011.
Trauma centers (TCs) have been shown to decrease mortality in adults, but this has not been demonstrated at a population level in all children. We hypothesized that seriously injured children would have increased survival in a TC versus nontrauma center (nTC), but there would be no increased benefit from pediatric-designated versus adult TC care. ⋯ Therapeutic/care management, level III.
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J Trauma Acute Care Surg · Oct 2013
A pilot hospital-school educational program to address teen motor vehicle safety.
Texting while driving has emerged as a significant distracted driving behavior among teenage drivers. A unique hospital-school collaborative pilot intervention (called "Be in the Zone" or "BITZ") was implemented to combat this growing problem. This intervention was hypothesized to lead to a decline in texting while driving among high school students. ⋯ Preliminary results from this pilot program suggest that a strategy of combining hospital-school partnerships with a peer-driven educational approach can be effective in reducing texting while driving among teenagers in the short-term.
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J Trauma Acute Care Surg · Oct 2013
Insurance status is a predictor of failure to rescue in trauma patients at both safety net and non-safety net hospitals.
Disparities in outcomes for uninsured trauma patients have been well documented. This study investigates whether failure to rescue (FTR) is a driver of mortality disparities after injury and whether patients treated at hospitals with a large volume of uninsured patients are more likely to die after complication. ⋯ Prognostic study, level III.
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J Trauma Acute Care Surg · Oct 2013
Characterizing vasopressin and other vasoactive mediators released during resuscitation of trauma patients.
We sought to perform the first characterization of vasopressin and other vasoactive mediators released during resuscitation of hypotensive trauma patients. ⋯ Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level III.