A prehospital glasgow coma scale score < or = 14 accurately predicts the need for full trauma team activation and patient hospitalization after motor vehicle collisions.

Background: Trauma team activation protocols should ideally minimize the undertriage of seriously injured patients and eliminate unnecessary activations for those patients that do not require hospitalization. This study examined which physiologic parameter(s) most reliably predicted the need for hospitalization after motor vehicle collisions (MVCs).

Methods: A prehospital triage tool using standard physiologic parameters was developed and prospectively analyzed for reliability in predicting subsequent patient admission at a Level II trauma center after MVCs.