Trauma center

The highest levels of trauma centers have access to specialist medical and nursing care, including emergency medicine, trauma surgery, critical care, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, and radiology, as well as a wide variety of highly specialized and sophisticated surgical and diagnostic equipment.

[2][3][4] The point of a trauma center, as distinguished from an ordinary hospital, is to maintain the ability to rush critically injured patients into surgery during the golden hour by ensuring that appropriate personnel and equipment are always ready to go on short notice.

The world's first trauma centre, the first hospital to be established specifically to treat injured rather than ill patients, was the Birmingham Accident Hospital, which opened in Birmingham, England in 1941 after a series of studies found that the treatment of injured persons within England was inadequate.

[5] According to the CDC, injuries are the leading cause of death for American children and young adults ages 1–19.

[6] The leading causes of trauma are motor vehicle collisions, falls, and assaults with a deadly weapon.

[9] David R. Boyd interned at Cook County Hospital from 1963 to 1964 before being drafted into the Army of the United States of America.

Upon his release from the Army, Boyd became the first shock-trauma fellow at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, and then went on to develop the National System for Emergency Medical Services, under President Ford.

The different levels refer to the types of resources available in a trauma center and the number of patients admitted yearly.

The ACS describes this responsibility as "a geopolitical process by which empowered entities, government or otherwise, are authorized to designate."

TIEP maintains an inventory of trauma centers in the US, collects data and develops information related to the causes, treatment and outcomes of injury, and facilitates the exchange of information among trauma care institutions, care providers, researchers, payers and policymakers.

A trauma center is a hospital that is designated by a state or local authority or is verified by the American College of Surgeons.

[19] It has a full range of specialists and equipment available 24 hours a day[20] and admits a minimum required annual volume of severely injured patients.

Additionally, a Level I center has a program of research, is a leader in trauma education and injury prevention, and is a referral resource for communities in nearby regions.

[21] Level I and II trauma centers are focused on maintaining the capability "to take a patient to the operating room immediately 24/7/365".

[22] For example, elective surgeries must be booked in such a way as to leave gaps in the schedule, to ensure that at least one fully-equipped operating room is always available for immediate use by the trauma service at all times.

[23] Other specialists do not need to be in-house at the trauma center on a 24/7/365 basis, but they also must be carefully managed to avoid occupational burnout and to ensure consistent rapid response when on call.

It provides initial evaluation, stabilization, diagnostic capabilities, and transfer to a higher level of care.

If a hospital provides trauma care to both adult and pediatric patients, the level designation may not be the same for each group.