A record 5,361 seriously injured adults were treated at University Hospital’s Level I trauma center in 2017, a number that has risen 65 percent over a five-year period. Only one major category of adult injury — railway injuries — saw a decline over that five-year span from 2013 to 2017.
Falls were the leading injury cause among adults again in 2017, with 1,519 people treated, up from 1,513 the previous year. Over a five year period, the number of adult injuries from falls is up 66 percent. Car crashes were the second leading cause, although the number decreased from the previous year. In 2017, 1,372 adults were treated for car crash injuries, down from 1,447 in 2016. Over a five-year period, the number of car crash injuries is up 45 percent. The number of pedestrians hit by cars remained roughly the same in 2017 — with 341 treated here, compared to 340 the previous year. Over a five-year period, the number of those injuries treated at University Hospital rose by 114 percent. After a steady decline from 2012 to 2015, the number of motorcycle injuries rose in both 2016 and 2017, with 218 and 296 recorded. The number of adults injured on motorcycles in 2017 was 25 percent higher than five years earlier. The number of adults injured by stabbing or cutting increased in 2017 while the number of adults injured by firearms declined to 174 last year from 207 the year before. Still the number of firearms-related injuries treated at University Hospital last year was 112 percent higher than five years earlier. Unarmed assaults also declined to 331 from 371 the previous year.
Dr. Ronald Stewart, trauma surgeon and chairman of surgery at UT Health San Antonio, is immediate past-chair of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, the organization charged with setting standards for trauma care and verifying the qualifications of trauma centers around the world. University Hospital’s adult Level I trauma center has been at the forefront of trauma care and trauma system development across the nation since the 1970s.