Cruz-Perez Bill to Update, Enhance Trauma Care, ‘Field Triage’ Standards Passes the Senate

Trenton – While New Jersey is home to some of the highest quality trauma care centers and health care professionals in the country, legislation passed out of the Senate today would further strengthen the state’s trauma care system, by redoubling efforts to enhance “field triage” decision-making, and making sure patients are transported to the hospital best able to treat their specific injuries.

The bill, S-3219, sponsored by Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez, would require that each Emergency Medical Services provider in the state certify that its standards, practices, and protocols are in accordance with standards set by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients to ensure consistent “field triage” methods, treatment and decision-making processes. Currently, these CDC guidelines are advisory but not mandatory.

“We need to make sure critically injured patients are transported to the trauma center or hospital best equipped to manage life-threatening injuries in a timely manner,” said Cruz-Perez (D-Camden/Gloucester). “Our prehospital-care providers are on the front lines of our health care system. They need to be able to think on their feet, and recognize immediately when a patient needs to be transported to a top-tier trauma center to achieve the best outcomes.”

In New Jersey, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among persons aged 15-49 and the third-leading cause among all ages combined. The National Study on the Costs and Outcomes of Trauma reported a 25 percent reduction in mortality for severely injured patients who received care at a Level 1 trauma center rather than at a non-trauma center.

The legislation would also codify the regulatory requirement for hospitals to maintain trauma patient transfer criteria and transfer agreements with trauma centers. Such criteria and agreements would be required to provide for the effective and efficient transfer of patients that require the services of a trauma center. Each hospital’s criteria and agreements would be required to be posted on the Department of Health’s website.

This bill recognizes the vital role that top-line trauma care plays in our greater health care treatment network, and especially its place of importance in our overall public health safety net. New Jersey’s trauma centers are among the finest in the country. This bill will go toward making sure those facilities are given every chance to save the lives of those residents who suffer the gravest injuries.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 40-0.