Prospective validation of an out-of-hospital decision rule to identify seriously injured children involved in motor vehicle crashes.

Objectives: To prospectively validate a previously published out-of-hospital clinical decision rule to identify seriously injured children involved in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs).

Methods: The authors selected 20 Los Angeles County Fire Department fire stations, based on pediatric MVC call volume and geographic diversity, and 21 associated hospitals for participation in the study. Immediately following an MVC call involving a pediatric patient aged 0-14 years, each engine/paramedic squad completed a data form (15 variables, including vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale score, and vehicular and crash characteristics).

Institutional variability in a minimal risk, population-based study: recognizing policy barriers to health services research.

Objective: To describe (1) the institutional variability in study approval and willingness to obtain federal assurance documents for a federally supported, minimal risk health services research project conducted during the implementation of the Privacy Rule and federalwide assurances, and (2) the potential impact of such policy on selection of research subjects and generalizability of study results.

Data Sources: Primary data collection from 2001 to 2004.

Study Design: We provide a descriptive analysis of a prospective, observational, out-of-hospital study.