COVID-19 Lockdowns and Traffic Accidentsĭuring the COVID pandemic, the world initially witnessed a dip in the volume of injuries presenting to emergency departments-a phenomenon linked to restricted travel. In much of the world, road traffic accident victims and others suffering life-threatening injuries are not able to receive essential surgical care-including trauma, surgery and anesthesia care- within an hour, or even many hours, following an accident. The window of opportunity for a chance at survival is narrow for a severely injured patient. Road traffic and other injuries kill more people every year than HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Though injury-related deaths occur everywhere, the overwhelming majority happen in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where emergency communication systems and health care are often limited. Specialized and timely trauma care in LMICs is critical, though, to reducing permanent, long-term disability and deaths. The 'golden hour' is now more scientifically referred to as the 'resuscitative hour.' There is a crucial period immediately after an injury when life-saving medical or surgical intervention can offer the highest chance of survivalĪlthough there is little scientific basis for this traditional one-hour rule, as many trauma care providers note, trauma care is time-dependent and a prompt response can be a matter of life and death. That concept of a critical window of perfect sunlight was co-opted by emergency medical providers to refer to the crucial period of time immediately after an injury when appropriate life-saving medical or surgical intervention can offer the highest chance of survival for a traumatically injured patient. The term's origins lie in photography and reference the first hour of light after the sun rises and the last hour of light before sunset. Adam Cowley, a U.S. military surgeon popularized the term 'golden hour,' words often used in trauma and emergency medicine settings.

'There is a golden hour between life and death.'

Golden hour time nj