Newswise — Although Children's has provided outstanding trauma care for years, the hospital received official Trauma Level I status from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in February.
Children's now is the only pediatric hospital in Texas and the Southwest designated as a Trauma Level I center and one of only 14 pediatric hospitals in the country with that designation. The closest pediatric Trauma Level I centers as designated by the ACS are in Indianapolis and Denver.
The designation means Children's meets the highest standards in trauma service and has committed resources to care for all types of childhood traumas.Level I institutions care for the large numbers of injured patients with a high level of severity of injury. In 2004, Children's admitted 1,370 trauma patients and saw more than 13,000 trauma cases.
"Level I designation is a tremendous accomplishment and source of pride for the physicians and staff at Children's Medical Center," said Christopher J. Durovich, Children's president and chief executive officer. "We are pleased to have the dedication and hard work of our team recognized by the American College of Surgeons, and we look forward to continuing to treat the children of North Texas with the highest standards of care."
To receive Trauma Level I status, a hospital must provide:"¢ 24-hour in-house coverage by trauma surgeons."¢ 24-hour in house coverage by pediatric emergency medicine specialists."¢ 24-hour in-house coverage by anesthesiology and operating room personnel. "¢ Prompt availability of care in specialties such as orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery and plastic surgery."¢ Immediate availability of the trauma intensive care unit and critical care physicians."¢ Comprehensive radiology, including interventional radiology."¢ 24-hour availability of the laboratory and blood bank.
Additionally, vital components of a Trauma Level I program also include outreach to educate the public about preventing injuries; education of community healthcare providers; and research programs to scientifically improve patient outcomes and to assess the efficacy of prevention efforts.
"All the pieces were here at Children's and UT Southwestern; we simply needed to pull together all of our resources to provide the greatest service to the children of this region," said Dr. Todd Maxson, chief of trauma at Children's. "This hospital's administration and medical staff have made a tremendous commitment to serving this community by providing the highest level of trauma care.
"This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication," said Maxson, a trauma surgeon who also is an assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Steve Janda, trauma systems director for TDSHS, said Level I designation is a method by which the state of Texas recognizes a facility's capabilities with regard to pediatric injury emergencies by the means of an organized and systematic approach to the medical care rendered.
"Additionally, trauma designation demonstrates to the Dallas area community that the medical staff at Children's has increased knowledge of current standards of care for critically injured children and higher standards of care that can lead to decreased mortality and morbidity for the children of North Texas," Janda said. The American College of Surgeons created national guidelines for the purpose of optimizing trauma care in the United States. To accomplish this objective it established criteria for reviewing trauma centers to ensure that they provide an organized and systematic approach to the care of the injured patient.
A graphic showing the 14 pediatric Trauma Level I centers in the U.S. is available via this press release on http://www.childrens.com/media.
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