Trauma Care Surveys - 2010 and 2011

Prepared by John G. Seiler, MD and L. Scott Levin, MD

In 2010 and 2011, ASSH conducted several surveys of its members regarding trauma care for hand injuries and upper extremity injuries in the United States.  Our purposes were as follows:

• To gain a better understanding of the hand surgery workforce and the distribution of services provided. 
  
• To assess the availability of hand care provided in Level 1 Trauma Centers.
  
• To determine if barriers to emergency hand care which were cited in the ASSH Emergency Hand Care Position Statement of 2006 still exist. 
  
• To understand the preparedness of our members to respond to microvascular injuries and provide reconstructive services, as availability of these services is critical to the optimal restoration of function for significantly injured patients.

The level of interest in and response to the surveys was significant.  Over 27% of ASSH hand surgeon members practicing in the United States responded to each of the surveys.  The surveys provide critical, independent source data that will help ASSH influence the standards of care for hand surgery patients, by:

1. Guiding hand surgery workforce development efforts in residencies and fellowships.
   
2. Advocating for dedicated hand surgery access in Level 1 acute care settings. 
   
3. Determining how to best educate ER Physicians regarding the provision of initial care for hand surgery emergencies.
   
4. Developing a regionalization strategy for microsurgical care.
   
5. Working with the American College of Surgeons to develop policy changes in Trauma Hand Care delivery.