• Injury Severity Score [ Time Frame: Upon arrival to the hospital ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

The eligible study population will be comprised of patients who meet level 1 trauma criteria and are transported by helicopter to Ryder Trauma Center or who are already admitted to the hospital. At the scene of the accident, or during transport, most of the patients will have routine EKG leads placed by the paramedic. In those individuals, the paramedic will connect EKG leads to a GE Mars Holter Monitor, in addition to whatever other monitor is used as part of the standard of care. Similarly, NIR (Near-Infrared Spectroscopy) will be used through the Inspectra Tissue Oxygenation Monitor and BIS (Bispectral index monitor) readings will be employed by research personnel for additional correlations to better identify those with severe injury. The HRV data will be correlated with one or more outcome variables in the trauma patients, then an easy to interpret index will be derived, as defined in our previous study.

In addition to the EKG, trauma patients who are being monitored for heart rate variability will also be connected to an Inspectra Tissue Oxygenation Monitor and Aspect BIS EEG monitor, both of which derive information from non-invasive surface probes. The Inspectra Tissue Oxygenation Monitor provides real-time information about perfusion status and the Aspect BIS EEG monitor provides real-time information about brain metabolic activity.