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The following is a summary of “Modifying Trauma Team Activation Criteria to Increase Rates of Appropriate Triage: A Retrospective Study,” published in the March 2025 issue of Journal of Emergency Medicine by Harrigan et al. 

The American College of Surgeons established 6 minimum criteria for full trauma team activation, but due to a lack of consensus on optimal criteria, modifications were made to address high overtriage rates. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine triage patterns before and after implementing modified trauma team activation criteria, hypothesizing that appropriate triage and over triage rates improved without a significant rise in undertriage.  

They analyzed appropriate triage, overtriage, and undertriage rates before and after implementing the modified criteria. Triage patterns were examined using the Standardized Trauma Assessment Tool and statistical analyses were performed with a significance level of 0.05 (alpha = 0.05).  

The results showed that modified criteria led to a rise in appropriate triage from 74.7% to 79.4% (P < 0.01), driven by a reduction in overtriage from 57.0% to 45.7% (P < 0.001). Undertriage remained unchanged, shifting from 3.2% to 4.9% (P = 0.05).  

Investigators concluded that simplified trauma team activation criteria reduced overtriage while maintaining undertriage rates. 

Source: jem-journal.com/article/S0736-4679(25)00087-3/abstract