Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the
United States and around the world. When a patient who has experienced trauma in an
MVC presents to the emergency department, they may be unable to participate in their
own care due to numerous factors, such as being unconscious, physically incapacitated, or suffering from confusion. To better characterize challenges with care of these patients, we analyzed reports of patient safety events submitted to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) related to MVCs, and we identified 282 reports for analysis that occurred from 2018–2020. Patients were more often male (58.9%; 166 of 282) than female (41.1%; 116 of 282), and they ranged in age from 1 to 93 years. A total of 13.1% (37 of 282) of reports were classified as serious events (i.e., events that resulted in patient harm), compared with 2.9% in the full acute care PA-PSRS database. Problems with monitoring or treatment were most common (43.3%; 122 of 282), followed by problems with evaluation (18.4%; 52 of 282), falls (11.7%; 33 of 282), problems with documentation (7.4%; 21 of 282), medication errors (7.4%; 21 of 282), and problems with transfers (6.4%; 18 of 282). Some potential contributing factors included communication breakdowns, lack of policies or protocols or unawareness about existing policies or protocols for treating certain patient populations, and prioritization of conditions related to an MVC over underlying health conditions.
Ability to monitor driving under the influence of marijuana among non-fatal motor-vehicle crashes: An evaluation of the Colorado electronic accident reporting system