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In a second study published in the same issue of the journal, a survey from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine found that trauma patients and caregivers alike seem to prefer palliative care, rather than aggressive critical care, if doctors believe that the latter is pointless.

Both groups didn't agree on all issues, however. While more than 72 percent of the public said trauma patients have the right to demand care not ordered by a doctor, only 44 percent of physicians thought so. Similarly, while about 61 percent of the public thought a person in a persistent vegetative state could be saved by a miracle or divine intervention, that opinion was shared by just 20 percent of medical professionals.

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For more on trauma and trauma centers, visit the American College of Surgeons.

SOURCES: David Chang, Ph.D., M.P.H., MBA, assistant professor, department of surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and assistant professor, department of health policy and management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore; Ron M. Walls, M.D., chairman, department of emergency medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; August 2008, Archives of Surgery