Dayton Children’s Hospital receives re-verification as a pediatric trauma center

Dayton Children’s Hospital received notification this week that the hospital’s trauma program has received re-verification from the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS) Committee on Trauma as a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center.

As the only pediatric trauma center in the region, this national re-verification recognizes that Dayton Children’s is the best place for children when they are seriously injured and need immediate care.

Of the 74,829 visits registered in Dayton Children’s Soin Pediatric Trauma and Emergency Center from August 2012 through July 2013, 14,710 visits were injury related. Of those visits, about 666were identified as significant traumas.Dayton Children’s trauma program initially was verified in 2002, and re-verified in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

“Access to comprehensive pediatric expertise is critical to the outcome of these patients,” says David Meagher, MD, medical director of pediatric surgery, trauma and burns and pediatric surgeon at Dayton Children’s. “Every child is treated by a staff that has been specially trained in pediatric care.”

In order to be verified as a trauma center, hospitals must meet the 247 criteria established by the committee on trauma to ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance. Dayton Children’s received a site visit in November 2013 from ACS reviewers experienced in the field of trauma who reviewed all documentation and evaluated on-site procedures. The reviewers noted several strengths in the program including:

• Leadership support
• Outreach and education with EMS providers
• Child abuse evaluation team and process
• Functionality and floor plan of our emergency department
• Coroner support with organ donations and coordination with Life Connection
• The Trauma Nurse Leader Program and the value they provide to the trauma program
• Trauma service team members
• Evaluation of trauma data that drives changes in the trauma program

“Children respond differently to injury, illness and treatment than adults,” says Meagher. “As a designated trauma center, children in the Dayton region have quick access to a multi-specialty team trained to recognize and treat these unique differences in pediatric trauma patients.”

The trauma team at Dayton Children’s includes a pediatric trauma surgeon, neurosurgeon, critical care doctor, emergency physician, orthopedist, anesthesiologist, and respiratory therapist and may include a host of other doctors, nurses and staff trained to work exclusively with children.

 “A hospital that specializes in pediatrics—a hospital that cares for children’s unique medical, physical, emotional and social needs as well as the family’s needs—is the best place for an injured child,” says Lisa Schwing, RN,  trauma program manager at Dayton Children’s. “The staff at Dayton Children’s is dedicated to helping keep children throughout our community stay safe. We continually work to prevent injuries, to improve emergency and trauma services and provide the very best care possible.”

About the American College of Surgeons  and the Committee on Trauma

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College has over 72,000 members and it is the largest association of surgeons in the world. Longstanding achievements have placed the ACS in the forefront of American surgery and have made it an important advocate for all surgical patients.

The Committee on Trauma (COT), a standing committee of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), works to improve all phases of care of the injured patient and to prevent injuries before they occur. The COT promotes leadership and cooperation of all participants in a trauma center so that the best possible care will be provided to injured patients. The COT also requires the commitment of each facility's surgeons to the improvement of trauma care. Recognizing that trauma is a surgical disease that demands surgical leadership, the ACS established the Committee on Trauma, its oldest standing committee, in 1922.

For more information, contact: 

Grace Jones 

Marketing Communications Specialist 

Phone: 937-641-3666 

marketing@childrensdayton.org