Trauma Education, Registry and Research

The North Carolina Trauma Registry (NCTR) is a cooperative effort between numerous North Carolina hospitals, including all trauma centers, and the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services (NCOEMS). The NCTR, which has been operational since 1987, collects information on injured patients for the purposes of performance improvement, outcomes measurement, resource utilization, injury prevention, and clinical research.

Research

The purpose of the NCTR is to house data that is collected on all trauma patients and to facilitate trauma system development. Data extracted from the NCTR is useful to improve the quality of care of trauma patients in North Carolina. NCOEMS and the State Trauma Advisory Committee (STAC) support and encourage researchers to use the NCTR to obtain data for research with the ultimate goal of improving trauma care in N.C. as well as nationally.

For individuals interested in submitting a routine or scientific data request from the NCTR, please contact: Anquonette Stiles, Trauma Registry Data Analyst at [email protected]

Prior to obtaining data from the NCTR and conducting any research activities, researchers must first follow the appropriate steps in order to obtain approval from NCOEMS as well as the STAC. The following documents may be used to obtain information about and access to data for research purposes:

The North Carolina Trauma Registry Data Dictionary 
This document contains data points and descriptions of the most commonly requested data for research. This document was created using the data dictionary published by the National Trauma Registry of the American College of Surgeons (NTRACS), with modifications specific to the North Carolina Trauma Registry. It provides a brief summary of every data point used in North Carolina and notes where there are custom options standard throughout the State.

NCTR Permission to Publish or Present Request Form
This form is required to request permission for data from the NCTR to be submitted for a research publication. Any research resulting from the use of NCTR data requires prior approval for publication of any type prior to submission.

Education

Trauma Continuing Education Courses 
The purpose of this document is to assist trauma program managers in assigning trauma continuing education credit in a standardized manner across the state of North Carolina. This tool is not inclusive of all courses for trauma continuing education. Assigning of trauma hours is at the discretion of the trauma program manager.

Registry Resources

The following resources relate to consistency, accuracy, and validation of data across the state of North Carolina:

ESO provides software and technological support for the NCTR.

The North Carolina Trauma Registry (NCTR) Data Dictionary
This document was created using the data dictionary published by the National Trauma Registry of the American College of Surgeons (NTRACS), with modifications specific to the North Carolina Trauma Registry.  It provides a brief summary of every data point used in North Carolina, and notes where there are custom options standard throughout the State.