Trauma
For patients who suffer life-threatening or life-changing injury, New Hanover Regional Medical Center provides the only Trauma Center in the region.
More than 1,700 patients per year are admitted to the hospital through the Trauma Center, one of 10 Level II or higher trauma sites designated by the state's Office of Emergency Medical Services.
The Trauma Center includes not only the Trauma Services Department, but the Emergency Department, Surgical Services, Surgical/Trauma Intensive Care Unit, the surgical floor at New Hanover Regional, and the NHRMC Rehabilitation Center. The Trauma Center works with New Hanover Regional EMS, VitaLink, and AirLink, the region's air ambulance services.
What It Means to be a Trauma Center
As a Trauma Center, board-certified surgeons, nurses and other staff are available 24 hours a day, every day. The center includes an Emergency Department with a medical director who is board-certified in Emergency Medicine and an operating room that can be immediately available.
Other features include resuscitation equipment for patients of all ages, nursing staff with trauma care experience, an outreach program for injury prevention and documented continuing education for staff and physicians.
The Trauma Center also includes a Medical Director who is a board-certified surgeon and a Trauma Director and Trauma Coordinator, both masters-prepared RNs who are verified in trauma care.
The center maintains a Trauma Registry, which logs all cases to ensure injured patients are transported to the hospital appropriate for their level of injury.
Trauma Services
The Department of Trauma Services encompasses direct patient care, and provides outreach and educational programs to the community. Trauma Services provides direct clinical care to the trauma patient through the trauma teams, surgical attending, residents, and nursing staff. Throughout the course of treatment, the trauma residents monitor care until the patient is ready to be discharged home or transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
Trauma Services also provides the administrative supervision for all Trauma Services programs. Projects include participation in the Southeastern Regional Advisory Committee (SERAC), which develops standards of trauma care, and provides guidelines for the transfer of the trauma patient. Trauma Services also directs the community outreach and injury prevention programs as well as provides continuing educational programs for providers of trauma care. In addition, Trauma Services maintains the trauma registry and reports vital data to state and national agencies.
The trauma team is a group of healthcare professionals organized to provide care to the trauma patient. This multidisciplinary team approach to the care of trauma patients is critical to the success of the trauma program. Through collaboration, every member of the trauma team supports an important component of trauma care that contributes to successful patient outcomes.
More Information
For more information, visit the following pages:
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