Trauma centers are specialty hospitals which are capable of providing comprehensive emergency medical services to patients who are suffering from traumatic injuries such as burns. This type of hospital was developed as the medical establishment realized that traumatic injuries required a different level of care than ordinary injuries.
In order for a hospital to qualify is a trauma center, the hospital must have a high-quality intensive care unit as well as an operating room that is fully-staffed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This emergency room typically has an entire trauma team. The trauma team is usually led by trauma surgeons, including specialists like neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons.
Because these specialized centers are extremely expensive to operate, some areas or states are under-served by trauma centers. For example, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle actually serves all of the state of Washington as well as the states of Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Due to the distance that some patients might have to travel to get to the hospital, the majority of specialty hospitals have a helipad for receiving patients who have been airlifted. Ironically, in many instances, those who were injured in a remote area and then air lifted to a hospital frequently receive better medical care than those taken by an ambulance to an ordinary emergency room.
The initial concept of a center for trauma originated at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The Cook County Hospital in Chicago claims to have created the first official trauma center in the country. These centers are ranked by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). They are assigned a rank from Level I to Level III. Level I centers offer comprehensive services while Level III centers offer a more limited selection of services. In addition to the number and types of resources available, these specialty wings of hospitals are also classified by the number of patients they receive in a year.
In addition to the level designation, trauma centers of Levels I and II are given an adult or pediatric designation. States may also have their own rankings separate from the American College of Surgeons designation. These rankings can go from Level I to Level IV.
If you would like more information on trauma centers and other special types of hospitals, please visit http://burnvictiminjurylawyers.com The experienced staff will be more than happy to answer any questions concerning trauma, trauma centers, burn centers, and hospitals in general.
Joseph Devine
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