Statement of Purpose Pre-hospital phase is crucial in trauma care systems. In the country of Georgia there is a gap in knowledge of pre-hospital time management, which hinders efforts to coordinate pre-hospital care. The aim of this observational study was to explore pre-hospital care characteristics of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients in Georgia.

Methods/Approach This work is done as part of the NIH-funded project INITIatE: International Collaboration to Increase TBI Surveillance in Europe (NIH/NINDS R21NS098850). A retrospective TBI registry of all hospitalized patients was established in the largest TBI treating hospital. TBI patients with S00-S09.0 codes (ICD 10) treated from August – October, 2018 were examined using SPSS 20.

Results During study period, 96 patients were admitted. Most were male (56.3%) with the modal age group 25 – 44. The most common source of hospital arrival was ambulance (62.5%), followed by private/public transport (13.5%). The interval between time of injury and time of attendance was ranged from 3 minutes to 73 hours with an average time of 3.36 hours. Nearly half (47.9%) of the TBI patients reported to the hospital in less than 1 hour, while 8.3% of patients arrived 1 - 2 hours post-injury. In addition, 15.6% of TBI patients experienced an injury-to-hospital attendance timeframe of 2 – 4 hours, while it took more than four hours for 9.4% of injury patients to arrive the hospital. Missing date was identified in 18 medical records. Most patients who arrived with an hour post-injury had the shortest length of hospital stays.

Conclusion The results of our study identified pre-hospital delayed admission of TBI patients. Future research of factors associated with delayed admission and focused on improvement of pre-hospital time management will help to enhance TBI outcomes for patients.

Significance This research will help to understand what should be done for improvement of TBI care from different perspectives: pre-hospital care, hospital, medical professional, researcher.