Towards exploring current challenges and future opportunities relating to the prehospital triage of patients with traumatic brain injury: a mixed-methods study protocol

Introduction Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major global health burden that results in disability and loss of health. Identifying those patients who require specialist neuroscience care can be challenging due to the low accuracy of existing prehospital trauma triage tools. Despite the widespread use of decision aids to ‘rule out’ TBI in hospitals, they are not widely used in the prehospital environment. We aim to provide a snapshot of current prehospital practices in the UK, and to explore facilitators and challenges that may be encountered when adopting new tools for decision support.

Methods and analysis A mixed-methods study will be conducted using a convergent design approach. In the first phase, we will conduct a national survey of current practice in which every participating ambulance service in the UK will receive an online questionnaire, and only one response is required. In the second phase, semistructured interviews will be conducted to explore the perceptions of ambulance service personnel regarding the implementation of new triage methods that may enhance triage decisions. The survey questions and the interview topic guide were piloted and externally reviewed. Quantitative data will be summarised using descriptive statistics; qualitative data will be analysed thematically.

Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Health Research Authority (REC reference 22/HRA/2035). Our findings may inform the design of future care pathways and research as well as identify challenges and opportunities for future development of prehospital triage tools for patients with suspected TBI. Our findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, relevant national and international conferences, and will be included in a PhD thesis.