Impact of trauma designation levels on survival of drowning victims: An observational study from trauma centers in the United States

Drowning causes significant morbidity and mortality. Healthcare regionalization aims at improving patient outcomes. This study examines the impact of trauma center level designation on survival of drowning victims. Retrospective cohort study utilizing the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) 2015. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. The 212 patients were included. Mean age was 33.58 (±20.02) years with 69.3% (n = 147) males. Patients were mostly taken to Level I (n = 107, 50.5%) and II (n = 81, 32.8%) centers, requiring admission (43.5% (n = 96), 23.1% (n = 49) and 8.5% (n = 18) to Intensive Care, floor, and Operating Room, respectively). Overall hospital discharge survival was 83.5% (n = 177). After adjusting for confounders, there was no significant difference in survival of patients taken to Level I compared to Level II and III centers. This study did not identify a survival benefit for patients with drowning related injuries when taken to Level I compared to Level II or III Trauma centers. Further outcome studies are needed in organized trauma systems to improve field triage criteria for specific injury mechanisms.