Can Planned Traffic Patterns Improve Survival Among the Injured During Mass Casualty Motorcycle Rallies?

BACKGROUND: Mass casualty events are infrequent and create an abrupt surge of patients requiring emergency medical services within a brief period. We hypothesize that implementation of a controlled "traffic loop" pattern during a planned high-volume motorcycle rally could improve overall mortality and impact patient outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of all motorcycle-related injuries during the city's annual motorcycle rally over a 4-y period. Comparative analysis was completed between those injured during "nontraffic loop" hours versus the city's scheduled 23-mile, 3-d "traffic loop" pattern. The two groups were compared for age, gender, injuries, Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, length of stay, ventilator-free days, and mortality. The primary outcome was mortality.

RESULTS: A total of 139 patients were included (120 nonloop and 19 loop). Mean (standard deviation) age was 36.1 (11.2) y and 72.1% were male. Both groups were equivalent in age, gender, Injury Severity Score, and Glasgow Coma Scale. Traffic loop patients required longer intensive care unit length of stay, (median = 9.0, range: 1-49 d), ventilator days (median = 29.5), (range: 1-49 d) and experienced abdominal trauma (P = 0.002). Emergency medical services transport times during loop hours had shorter response times than the nonloop injury group (7.79 ± 5.2 min and 13.22 ± 14.01 min (P = 0.049). No deaths occurred during the city's scheduled traffic loop (0 versus 22, P = 0.0447).

CONCLUSIONS: Controlled traffic patterns during high-volume city gatherings can improve overall mortality and morbidity. Regional trauma system preparedness with field triage guidelines and coordinated trauma care is warranted to effectively care for the injured.