Quality and Outcomes Reports - Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery

Trauma survival

Why we measure it - Our pediatric specialists care for more than 10,000 injured patients every year. Many of these patients are critically or severely injured. How many of those children we can save is the most important statistic we measure.

Blunt Injury Predicted Survival

Children's Hospital Survival Rate
for 2011

Patients with less than a 50% predicted survival

37.5%

Patients with greater than 50% predicted survival

99.7%

About the data - The Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS) is a mathematical model that predicts survival based on physiologic variables and severity of injury. The TRISS analysis was conducted on blunt trauma patients in 2011.

What this means - Of the patients with less than 50 percent probable survival, 37.5 percent survived, and of the patients with a greater than 50 percent probable survival, 99.7 percent of patients survived in 2011.

Related dimensions of care:

What we're doing to provide the best care:  

  • Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, certified by the American College of Surgeons. This certification means we are able to provide the best possible care to the most critically injured children. It also recognizes that we are involved in injury prevention, research and education.
  • All of our specialists are trained in pediatrics. The trauma team is made up of nearly 20 different pediatric experts who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to the Emergency Department/Trauma Center to care for the child's immediate crisis. This includes Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Ophthalmology, Dental, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Child Life and others.
  • As a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, we are at the forefront of trauma-related research and education for health care providers and the community.
  • We have a highly specialized Children's Transport Team available 24 hours a day to stabilize and transport seriously sick and injured infants and children to our center.
  • We created a standard of care for sedation in our intensive care unit to better care for children with severe head trauma and other injuries such as solid organ injuries.
  • We are working to reduce the number of computed tomography (CT) scans and related radiation exposure to trauma patients by developing a screening tool to help identify spinal, chest, abdominal and head injuries.
  • We work with Froedtert Hospital, one of five injury research centers in the United States.
  • We care for injured adults over the age of 18 if they have a congenital heart defect or other congenital condition that requires the specialized consideration and care only pediatric experts can provide.
  • Through Project Ujima Children's Hospital has proven to be able to prevent the cycle of violence by reducing the number of repeat victims of violence.
  • Trauma Center staff works closely with staff at Children's Health Education Center, a member of Children's Hospital and Health System. The education center provides programs and resources to schools and the community in health education including outreach programs, e-learning programs, babysitter training, youth leadership development, safety, injury prevention events and asthma education. Children's Health Education Center also is the lead sponsor of Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin, Safe Kids Wisconsin Coalition and Injury Free Coalition for Kids.
  • Children's Health Education Center received a grant from the Department of Transportation to create relationships with driver's education programs throughout Wisconsin to increase drivers' safety awareness in communities with teen driving accidents and to implement teen-created, teen-led safety campaigns to reduce teen driving accidents.   

Patients and families: 

  • Always use a properly fitted car seat until children are 4 years of age and 40 pounds, a booster seat until children are 8 years of age and 80 pounds, and a seat belt for children 9 years of age through adulthood. For a free consultation, make an appointment with our Car Seat Clinic by calling toll-free (877) 607-5280. For more information about car seat safety, visit www.chw.org/carseats.
  • Wear a bike helmet when riding a bike, scooter, skateboard, skates or sled.
  • Always supervise your child during play to help prevent falls. Falls are the most common reason children are seen in the Children's Hospital Emergency Department.
  • Make sure your child knows how to swim, and never leave children alone while in the pool or bathtub. Children always should be supervised by a responsible adult.
  • For other injury prevention tips, visit Children's Health Education Center.

Referring physicians:

  • Fill out and fax a referral form prior to sending the patient to Children's Hospital for outpatient ancillary services or a specialty clinic visit. 
  • Forward any pertinent patient documentation, including test results, to the specialty physician's office prior to the patient's visit. 
  • Referring physicians can access our specialists for consultation or transport 24 hours a day. Call our physician referral line at (800) 266-0366.  
  • Health care providers from outside of our southeastern Wisconsin service area are encouraged to use our web-based
    e-Consult service. This service is available for non-urgent patient cases only and gives providers access to our specialists to review patient cases, obtain medical advice or second opinions, and receive care recommendations for rare symptoms and illnesses.
    e-Consult is not to be used by the general public, parents/guardians or families.
  • Care guidelines for medical professionals
  • Educational materials
  • Pocket Directory

If you have questions about this data or information, email us or call (414) 266-6556.