Analysis of prehospital transport of head-injured patients after consolidation of neurosurgery resources.

Objectives: Consolidation of neurosurgical (NS) services resulted in emergency medical services guidelines mandating transport of head-injured patients to the NS center if the Glasgow Coma Scale score is < 14 and prehospital index is > 3. This study determined what paramedic, system, or patient factors were associated with secondary head-injury transfer.

Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review from January 1996 to November 1998.