Older patients less likely to be taken to trauma centers

Older trauma patients are less likely to be transported to an official trauma center for immediate care than younger patients, according to a review of a decade's worth of Maryland's statewide emergency medical services records. The findings also suggest that the difference in care first comes into play as patients reach age 50 and worsens again at age 70. The researchers found that about 18% of trauma patients under the age of 65 were not taken to a trauma center, while almost 50% of patients over the age of 65 were similarly undertreated.