A safe haven for the injured? Urban trauma care at the intersection of healthcare, law enforcement, and race. Soc Sci Med 2018 Feb;199:115-122
Date
05/30/2017Pubmed ID
28552292Pubmed Central ID
PMC5694382DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.05.037Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85019540733 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 34 CitationsAbstract
Patients with traumatic injuries often interact with police before and during hospitalization, particularly when their injuries are due to violence. People of color are at highest risk for violent injuries and have the poorest outcomes after injury. The purpose of this study was to describe how injured, Black patients perceived their interactions with police and what these perceptions reveal about police involvement within trauma care systems. We combined data from two qualitative studies to achieve this aim. The first was ethnographic fieldwork that followed Black trauma patients in the hospital through the physical and emotional aftermath of their injuries. The second was a qualitative, descriptive study of how patients experienced trauma resuscitation in the emergency department (ED). Both studies were conducted between 2012 and 2015 at the Trauma Center at Penn, an academic medical center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The present study includes data from 24 adult, Black participants undergoing treatment for injury. We reanalyzed all interview data related to law enforcement encounters from the scene of injury through inpatient hospitalization and coded data using a constant comparative technique from grounded theory. Participants described law enforcement encounters at the scene of injury and during transport to the hospital, in the ED, and over the course of inpatient care. Injured participants valued police officers' involvement when they perceived that officers provided safety at the scene, speed of transport to the hospital, or support and information after injury. Injured participants also found police questioning to be stressful and, at times, disrespectful or conflicting with clinical care. Communities, trauma centers, and professional societies have the opportunity to enact policies that standardize law enforcement access in trauma centers and balance patients' health, privacy, and legal rights with public safety needs.
Author List
Jacoby SF, Richmond TS, Holena DN, Kaufman EJAuthor
Daniel N. Holena MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultFemale
Health Status Disparities
Hospitalization
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Law Enforcement
Male
Middle Aged
Philadelphia
Police
Qualitative Research
Racism
Trauma Centers
Urban Health Services
Violence
Wounds and Injuries
Young Adult
