Centers of Excellence

What is Trauma?
Trauma is a medical classification for serious injuries that may cause death, paralysis and/or sever emotional effects. Trauma injuries often require immediate surgery to save the patient. Hospitals that have designated trauma centers are prepared to provide life-saving care 24-hours a day. The St. Alexius Emergency & Trauma Center sees an average over 26,000 patients each year. A trauma center gives the opportunity for a medical team to assemble and prepare prior to the patient arriving. The trauma system was created to provide immediate care to patients who are critically injured and cannot wait for on-call staff to be activated.

Trauma injuries include:

• Blunt injuries to the head, neck or torso – often associated with car accidents
• Ejections from a moving vehicle, rollovers or recreational vehicle accidents
• Falls
• Amputations
• Multiple bone fractures

St. Alexius Medical Center is a verified Level II trauma center and has an average preparation time of less than 15 minutes once a trauma call is received. The medical center must meet specific and rigorous criteria to become a verified trauma center and be re-evaluated every three years to make sure the criteria for expertise is being maintained.

A Level II trauma center must have immediate availability to surgeons, anesthesiologists, specialists, nurses and resuscitation equipment. The trauma center also must provide education, planning and research.

St. Alexius Medical Center is proud to provide three full-time neurosurgeons along with 24-hour staffed surgical services. As part of St. Alexius’s mission to care for the mind, body and spirit, chaplains are available to counsel and provide support to patients and their families

Benefits of a Trauma Center
Having a trauma center benefits the patient not only by providing immediate care, but also provides added expertise and experience that is gained by caring for the most critical patients on a regular basis. Emergency and trauma nurses continually advance their experience by staying current on the latest technology, techniques in providing care and other life-support training.

Prevention of Trauma
The only cure for trauma is prevention. The top five cases the St. Alexius Emergency & Trauma Center treats are:

• Motor vehicle collisions/not wearing seat belts
• Falls
• Assaults
• Injuries caused by animals
• All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) accidents/lack of protective equipment