For the red criteria transport recommendations, patients in extremis (eg, unstable airway, severe shock, or traumatic arrest) may require transport to the closest hospital for initial stabilization, before transport to a Level I or II trauma center for definitive care. Pediatric patients meeting the red criteria should be preferentially triaged to pediatric-capable trauma centers. The EMS Judgment criteria should be considered in the context of resources available in the regional trauma system, including consideration of online medical control for further direction. Examples of patients with special, high-resource health care needs include tracheostomy with ventilator dependence and cardiac assist devices, among others. Patients with combined burns and trauma should be preferentially transported to a trauma center with burn care capability. If not available, then a trauma center takes precedence over a burn center. Specific age used to define "children" is based on local system resources and practice patterns.
