INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TRAUMA TEAM AND FAMILIES - LACK OF TIMELY COMMUNICATION

Families of critically ill patients desire early information regarding the condition of their relative, The purpose of this study was to det ermine how long family members waited before someone from the trauma t eam met with them to discuss the condition of their relative, This was a prospective, single-blinded study of a convenience sample of 63 tra uma patients conducted at a trauma center, Observers recorded the time of arrival of the patient, time of family arrival, and the time the f amily was first contacted by the trauma team, Families arrived 38 +/- 35 minutes after the patient, The mean time families waited before con tact with the trauma team was 37 +/- 34 minutes. This study shows that the trauma team is often slow in communicating with the family of the victim, One member of the caregiving team should be designated to adv ise the family on the condition of the patient as soon as possible. Co pyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company