According to federal statistics, mass shootings have tripled in the United States in the past decade.¹ These mass-casualty events can easily overwhelm the resources of local hospitals. As the number of persons injured increases, even a well-prepared center can be pushed beyond capacity. While trauma systems have been established throughout the United States to prioritize getting the right patient to the right place at the right time, travel distance, traffic, casualty volume, and injury severity often result in transport of patients to a hospital that is not a trauma center (TC). It is hypothesized that the nearest available hospitals to mass shooting events will commonly be non–trauma center (NTC) hospitals, where such patient loads are more likely to overwhelm capacity and advanced care options may be limited. This study evaluates the location of recent mass shooting events relative to nearest hospitals and TCs.

根据联邦统计，在过去十年中，美国的大规模枪击事件增加了两倍。^1个这些大规模伤亡事件很容易使当地医院的资源不堪重负。随着受伤人数的增加，即使是准备充分的中心也可能被推到无法承受的地步。尽管在美国各地都建立了创伤系统，优先考虑在正确的时间将正确的患者送往正确的位置，但出行距离，交通，伤亡量和伤害严重程度通常会导致患者被送往非创伤医院中心（TC）。据推测，距离大规模枪击事件最近的医院通常是非创伤中心（NTC）医院，在这些医院，这类患者的工作量很可能使能力不堪重负，高级护理选择可能会受到限制。这项研究评估了最近的大规模枪击事件相对于最近的医院和TC的位置。