UC Davis Medical Center re-verified as level I trauma center

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) this week re-verified UC Davis Medical Center as a level I adult and pediatric trauma center, the only center in inland Northern California with that designation.

"Reverification by the American College of Surgeons as a level I trauma center for adults and pediatrics recognizes the enormous team effort that occurs here on a daily basis in caring for the trauma patient,” said Wendy Nugent, an assistant director in Patient Care Services. “The UC Davis Health System is acknowledged regionally and nationally as the provider of high-quality trauma care. Our re-verification affirms that everyone involved in trauma care here, through their dedication and hard work, is exceptional. Special thanks and congratulations goes to the members of the Trauma Program and the Trauma and Emergency Surgery Service, who worked diligently to assure that the re-verification would be successful.”

A level I classification signifies that a trauma center provides the highest level of specialty expertise and meets strict national standards. Verification by the ACS indicates that a center offers the technology, expertise and staffing to treat all injuries, even the most severe.

The American College of Surgeons Trauma Consultation and Verification Program has created national guidelines to optimize trauma care in the United States. American College of Surgeons surveyors, surgeons experienced in the field of trauma, made a site visit to UC Davis Medical Center to verify its compliance with the organization’s standards for a trauma center. Among the strengths cited by the surveyors were:

• UC Davis Medical Center’s commitment to trauma care
• Excellence of care
• Nurse practitioners in the trauma program
• The number of surgeons with board certification in critical care
• The Trauma Prevention/Outreach Program
• Research

Among the requirements for certification as a level I trauma center are a general surgery residency program, research in trauma, a cardiac surgery program and microvascular surgery. For 24 hours a day, the center must have a dedicated operating room, surgical personnel and a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) physician. The designation also requires a surgically directed and staffed ICU service, an in-house computed tomography scan technician, magnetic resonance imaging, acute hemodialysis, a minimum annual volume of patients and extramural trauma educational activities.