Trauma Center Services
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If you arrive at the UVA hospital emergency room with a life-threatening injury, you’ll get care from our trauma center team. We offer targeted expertise for gunshots, a brain injury or major car crash — all serious traumatic injuries.
Our Level I Trauma Center
With a national designation as a level 1 trauma center from the American College of Surgeons, UVA’s emergency and critical care services offer you, your family and your community security. You know that should a life-threatening crisis touch your life, you’ll receive the highest standard of care.
And where you go to the ER matters. Research shows that patients admitted to a dedicated trauma center with moderate to severe injuries from the scene of the injury have a 25% lower risk of dying.
Immediate Care
Critical care surgeons discuss the teamwork, expertise and trust that drives this nationally designated level 1 trauma center.
JEFF YOUNG: For the past six or seven years we've been designated nationally as a level one trauma center. In essence, to be a level one trauma center, you need to be able to take care of the entire spectrum of injured patients, pediatrics and elderly, any sort of reimplantation digits, any sort of orthopedic, neurologic, you have to be able to handle the whole spectrum and you also have to do research and you have to teach future doctors. I myself and my partner Forrest Callan, we take care of all of the injured patients that come in during weekdays and my other partners who are all trauma surgeons, we split the weekend. So, in essence we have a group of six physicians that care for all the severely injured patients here.
FORREST CALLAND: We have RN's, nurses, technicians, radiologists, radiographers, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and respiratory therapists and physicians of multiple other specialties who will participate in the care of our patients in order to provide optimal, safe care.
MICHAEL D. WILLIAMS: Operating rooms are available 24/7 and that are staffed 24/7 so we never have to wait for a crew to come in from home to deal with a trauma surgery case. It's immediate. There's no question that this is the best trauma center I've ever worked in, in terms of outcomes in terms of esprit de corps. We look after each other as partners and as a group and as a team. We also have some really remarkable outcomes. It's a great deal of skill and a lot of teamwork and camaraderie that really does I think separate us from the average trauma center.
FORREST CALLAND: There's very good evidence that patients admitted with moderate to severe injuries have a 25 percent lower risk for mortality if they're cared for in a dedicated trauma center like ours.
JEFF YOUNG: To care for severely injured patients, we're notified when they arrive. We're down there in the E.R. making sure that they're resuscitated and treated quickly. We evaluate their injuries, decide whether they're going in the intensive care unit or somewhere else. And then if we don't have to operate on them, we coordinate with the specialists, orthopedics in neurosurgery usually that we'll have to operate on them and make sure it's safe to operate on them. Then after they're over their acute injuries and they're recovering we make sure that they get physical therapy and occupational therapy and rehabilitation and then often if they're multiple trauma patients, we'll see them back in clinic and make sure they're doing okay.
FORREST CALLAND: We take care of the sickest most injured patients available and we do so in a catchment area of more than 20 thousand square miles. And it's what we do every day and it's what our passion is. And so I think that's a good reason to come to the University of Virginia with severe injuries. If you want to be cared for by people who do this as their main gig, are passionate and dedicated to it, then you're at the right place if you come here.
What is a Level I Trauma Center?
We provide total care for injury 24 hours a day. This includes medical care when an injury occurs, as well as preventive outreach and recovery services. The designation also reflects a broad region served, the presence of specialists and surgeons and other standards of education, research and improvement.
Our team shares a commitment to get you through your injuries in the safest way possible.
Support After a Physical Trauma
Sudden injury and a long recovery can cause anxiety, depression and stress. The Trauma Survivors Network offers resources to help. At the monthly support group, you can connect with other survivors who have faced similar challenges.
When: Monthly meetings on every third Thursday
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Where: Due to COVID-19, we are meeting via Zoom. Visit zoom.us and use meeting ID 3674264366.
Emergency, Trauma & Intensive Care Services
Events Trauma Survivors Support Group Meeting Schedule
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