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EAST Guidelines Purpose

Purpose

The Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) is a multi-disciplinary professional society committed to improving the care of injured patients. The Guidelines Committee of EAST develops and disseminates evidence-based information to increase the scientific knowledge needed to enhance patient and clinical decision-making, improve health care quality, and promote efficiency in the organization of public and private systems of health care delivery. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the opinions expressed and statements made in this publication reflect the authors' personal observations and do not imply endorsement by nor official policy of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma.

Browse EAST Practice Management Guidelines 

Using GRADE in Practice Management Guidelines

In 2012 EAST began using GRADE in the development of Practice Management Guidelines. Click here for additional information on GRADE.   

Intended audience

The informational offerings presented on this site are intended primarily for health professionals and the following audiences:

  • Physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals and provider organizations
  • Health plans, health systems, health care organizations, hospitals, and integrated health care delivery systems
  • Medical specialty and professional societies
  • Researchers
  • Federal, State, and local government health care policymakers and specialists

Other audiences including patients 

If you are a patient and are accessing this site, you should understand that the information presented is intended and designed for the use of the expert audiences identified above. You should seek assistance from a health care professional in interpreting these materials and applying them in individual cases.

Definition and Selection of Evidence-based Guidelines and Related Materials

This site contains evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as defined by the Institute of Medicine: "Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances."1 These guidelines are not fixed protocols that must be followed, but are intended for health care professionals and providers to consider. While they identify and describe generally recommended courses of intervention, they are not presented as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other knowledgeable health care professional or provider. Individual patients may require different treatments from those specified in a given guideline. Guidelines are not entirely inclusive or exclusive of all methods of reasonable care that can obtain/produce the same results. While guidelines can be written that take into account variations in clinical settings, resources, or common patient characteristics, they cannot address the unique needs of each patient nor the combination of resources available to a particular community or health care professional or provider. Deviations from clinical practice guidelines may be justified by individual circumstances. Thus, guidelines must be applied based on individual patient needs using professional judgment.

Disclaimer Statement

THE PRACTICE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES (PMGS), EVIDENCE BASED REVIEWS (EBRS), AND CLINICAL CARE PATHWAYS (CCPS) (COLLECTIVELY, “GUIDELINE(S)”) ARE INTENDED SOLELY FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES. THE GUIDELINES ARE NOT MEDICAL ADVICE; DO NOT REPLACE PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL EDUCATION, TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, AND JUDGEMENT; ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR SPECIFIC CLINICAL SITUATIONS; ARE NOT STANDARDS; AND DO NOT DEFINE THE STANDARD OF CARE. THE GUIDELINES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EASTERN ASSOCIATION FOR THE SURGERY OF TRAUMA (“EAST”) DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THE GUIDELINES’ ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, OR USEFULNESS; THAT THE GUIDELINES ARE ERROR FREE OR UP TO DATE; OR THAT THE GUIDELINES WILL SATISFY A USER’S NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS. ANY USE OF THE GUIDELINES IS STRICTLY AT THE USER’S OWN RISK. EAST DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THE GUIDELINES. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEITHER EAST NOR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, VOLUNTEERS, LICENSORS, OR CONTRACTORS WILL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY, INCLUDING BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE, RELATED TO THE GUIDELINES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. BY ACCESSING AND USING THE GUIDELINES, A USER ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOREGOING, WAIVES ANY CLAIMS THE USER MAY HAVE AGAINST EAST RELATED TO THE USER’S USE OF THE GUIDELINES, AND AGREES TO DEFEND AND INDEMNIFY EAST AGAINST ANY THIRD PARTY CLAIMS AGAINST EAST RELATED TO THE USER’S USE OF THE GUIDELINES.