Trauma Program

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is a Level I pediatric trauma center, able to provide the best care to all injured kids. The American College of Surgeons grants Level I verification to hospitals that provide the highest quality of care and are involved in injury prevention, research and education.

Children's Hospital cares for more injured kids than any other hospital in Wisconsin. More than 66,000 injured patients are seen in the Emergency Department/Trauma Center every year. Of those visits, 10,000 are for trauma and approximately 1,000 of those patients are admitted to the hospital. Many of the patients are injured by car accidents, bicycle crashes, snow boarding/sledding crashes, falls, house fires and other causes of burns, violence, poisons and drowning.

Many specialists and hospital departments support this level of care. The most critically injured patients are seen by the trauma team in the Emergency Department. The trauma team is 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. The team is led by a pediatric trauma surgeon and is composed of pediatric nurses and physicians from the Emergency Department, critical care, transport team and operating room. Additional members of the team include pediatric anesthesiologists, respiratory care practitioners, pharmacists, social workers, lab technicians, radiology technicians and security officers.

In addition, we utilize pediatric specialists from Kohl's Child Life Program, pain management, psychiatry and physical and occupational therapy to assure that the physical, emotional and psychological effects of injury are treated.

Quality

The Trauma Program assures that every injured child receives the highest level of care. Care is monitored by the trauma or burn advanced practice nurse, trauma medical director and Trauma Program manager. Issues are discussed by the Trauma Program members or referred for trauma physician or trauma committee review to identify opportunities for improvement.

Research show that 95 percent of pediatric spleen, liver and kidney injuries resulting from blunt trauma, can be treated successfully without going to the operating room. Children's Hospital meets or exceeds this benchmark. In fact, 95 percent of spleen injuries, 99 percent of liver injuries, and 100 percent of renal injuries are treated successfully without surgery.

Research and education

Children's Hospital keeps a trauma registry with information about injuries and trends. The registry provides data to improve and support injury prevention programs. It also supports research in trauma care and injury prevention.

Children's Hospital offers ongoing lectures and conferences for staff and other health care professionals on a variety of trauma-related topics.

Trauma Program staff members are in leadership roles in the region, state and nation. This helps promote the best care for injured children.

Injury prevention

An essential part of the trauma center is injury prevention.

Through Project Ujima, Children's Hospital helps break the cycle of violence by reducing the number of repeat victims of violence.

Trauma Center staff closely works with Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Community Health. Community Health is the lead agency for Safe Kids Wisconsin and Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin Coalition.