Editor's Note In response to the destruction caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the ECRI Institute is providing free access to resources, publications, and tools to help guide healthcare facilities affected by natural disasters. The Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Resource Center, which includes links to material from the ECRI…

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Editor's Note Acute care surgery (ie, an organized system of trauma, general surgery, and critical care) implementation has occurred unevenly across the US, with rural communities and regions the slowest, this study finds. Of 1,690 hospitals surveyed, 272 had implemented acute care surgery by 2015−an increase from 34 in 2001…

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Editor's Note Private vehicle transport was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of death compared with ground emergency medical services (EMS) transport for patients with gunshot and stab wounds in this study. In this analysis of 103,029 patients in the National Trauma Data Bank, 87.6% were male, 47.9% were black,…

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Editor's Note At least 23 hospitals in the Houston area affected by flooding from Hurricane Harvey have moved patients to other facilities, and another 25 are considered vulnerable to flooding or shortages of staff and supplies, the August 29 Houston Chronicle reports. The full tally of evacuated patients was not…

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Editor's Note Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, MD, has declared a public health emergency because of flooding and lingering rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the August 28 Healthcare Finance News reports. This declaration gives healthcare providers in Texas and Louisianian greater flexibility in treating people displaced by the…

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Editor's Note Flooding from Hurricane Harvey is pushing some Houston hospitals to close or evacuate, the August 27 Modern Healthcare reports. Baylor College of Medicine and clinics closed Sunday, August 27, as did all Texas Children’s Hospital’s pediatrics practices and urgent care locations. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer…

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Editor's Note Results of a new national survey by the Hartford Consensus about views of the public and healthcare professionals on active shooter events in hospitals show that: 61% of the public and 62% of professionals believe physicians and nurses have a special duty to protect patients during an active…

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Editor's Note Trauma centers verified by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) have fewer complications among pediatric, elderly, and severely injured patients, finds this study. The odds of experiencing any major complication were more than 3.0 times greater for elderly patients in trauma centers without ASC-COT verification…

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Editor's Note Using a new blood clot strength test based on a modified thrombelastography (TEG) assay with exogenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), researchers at the University of Colorado, Denver, were quickly able to assess the overall ability of blood to clot and identify trauma patients in need of a massive…

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Editor's Note Training surgeons in bleeding control techniques so they can, in turn, teach the general public is an effective way to disseminate bleeding control knowledge and skills, finds this study. Of 341 surgeons who were trained and surveyed at the 2016 American College of Surgeons (ACS) Congress, 93.79% agreed…

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