According to the CDC, injuries are the leading cause of death for American children and young adults ages 1–19. The leading causes of trauma are motor vehicle collisions, falls, and assaults with a deadly weapon.
According to the founder of the Trauma Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Dr. Marvin Tile, “the nature of injuries at Sunnybrook has changed over the years. When the trauma center first opened in 1976, about 98 percent of patients suffered from blunt-force trauma caused by accidents and falls. Now, as many as 20 percent of patients arrive with gunshot and knife wounds”.
Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia, located at Royal Columbian Hospital and Abbotsford Regional Hospital, services the BC area, “Each year, Fraser Health treats almost 130,000 trauma patients as part of the integrated B.C. trauma system”.
The Trauma Information Exchange Program (TIEP) is a program of the American Trauma Society in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. TIEP maintains an inventory of trauma centers in the US, collects data and develops information related to the causes, treatment and outcomes of injury, and facilitates the exchange of information among trauma care institutions, care providers, researchers, payers and policy makers.
A Level I trauma center provides the highest level of surgical care to trauma patients. Being treated at a Level I trauma center can reduce mortality by 25% compared to a non-trauma center. and admits a minimum required annual volume of severely injured patients. In addition, these trauma centers must be able to provide care for pediatric patients. Many Level II trauma centers would qualify for Level I if they were equipped to handle all pediatric emergencies.
