The impact of trauma activations on the care of emergency department patients with potential acute coronary syndromes.

Study Objective: Trauma systems improve the care of trauma patients; however, it is possible that prioritizing the emergency care of trauma patients might adversely affect other potentially ill patients requiring the same resources. We seek to determine whether the presence of a concurrent trauma activation negatively affects processes of care and outcomes for patients with potential acute coronary syndromes.

Methods: Patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with a potential acute coronary syndrome from July 2003 to June 2004 were stratified according to whether they presented concurrently with a trauma activation.