Rhode Island Hospital, the Alpert Medical School's largest teaching affiliate, was recently recertified as a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons, recognizing the hospital as the only certified trauma center in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Hospital has been a Level I trauma center for 17 years and serves a region of nearly 2 million people in southeast New England, said its trauma chief, Assistant Professor of Surgery Charles Adams.
As a high-level trauma center, Rhode Island Hospital must have a general surgeon, a radiologist, anesthesia, lab services and an operating room available 24 hours a day. The ACS ranks trauma centers on three levels, with Level I being the highest - those centers each treat more than 1,200 patients per year while still remaining research and education leaders, according to the American Trauma Society.
With a small window of time available to treat seriously injured trauma patients, Adams said, the ACS wants to ensure Level I trauma centers have these resources available so they can rapidly and efficiently respond to improve victims' conditions. Patients also have access to a wide variety of medical subspecialists on call, including neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, physical therapists and radiologists. "It gives you comprehensive care in every aspect if you are a patient," Adams said.
In addition, the certification allows Rhode Island Hospital to enter into agreements to transfer patients to better-equipped hospitals and to input patient information into the National Trauma Data Bank, which compiles statistics and figures for health agencies and lawmakers.
The process of recertification occurs every three years for Level I trauma centers. ACS, a Chicago-based organization, evaluates hospitals in a voluntary process based on the guidebook "Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient."
Generally, the process takes about one year and includes a multidisciplinary self- assessment by the hospital itself and a site visit from an ACS group to evaluate its records, documentation and mortality data.
"It's a dynamic process, it happens continually," said Adams. "The trauma center never really stops working to keep its accreditation."
As part of the Med School's largest teaching hospital, Rhode Island Hospital's trauma unit provides a unique perspective for students, said Alka Basil MD'06. "Trauma is a different type of medical experience," Basil said.
She added that she appreciated the opportunity to deal with various cases in emergency medicine, from shootings to motor vehicle accidents, and the chance to collaborate with various specialists to quickly develop a plan of action to treat victims.
Being around life and death situations "really helps you think quick on your feet," she said.
Treating patients with life threatening injuries can be a rewarding experience for students, Adams said. "It makes a lot of what you do worthwhile and reinforces a lot of the good things that (med students) do."
