20% of Dayton Children’s visits for injuries

Dayton Children’s re-verified for trauma care

Dayton Children’s Hospital has been re-verified as a Level II pediatric trauma center by the American College of Surgeons, the hospital announced today.

A Level II trauma center is able to initiate definitive care for all injured patients, including 24-hour immediate coverage by general surgeons, as well as coverage by the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care, according to the ACS.

A Level II trauma center is just one step below a Level I trauma center, which is capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury – from prevention through rehabilitation, according to ACS.

The national re-verification recognizes that Dayton Children’s is the best place in the Dayton area for children when they are seriously injured and need immediate care, the hospital said in a press release.

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“We say that Dayton Children’s exists because we believe that every child in our region deserves a great children’s hospital close to home, and there is no program that reflects this belief more than our emergency and trauma programs,” said Dayton Children’s President and CEO Deborah Feldman.

Of the 80,312 visits to Dayton Children’s emergency department from July 2015 to July 2016, 16,527 visits were injury related. Of those visits, 779 were identified as significant traumas, the hospital reports.

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In order to be verified as a trauma center, hospitals must meet 366 established criteria to ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance. Dayton Children’s trauma program was verified initially in 2002 and has been re-verified approximately every three years since.

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Each hospital has an on-site review by a team of experienced site reviewers, who use the current Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual as a guideline in conducting the survey. ACS reviewers came for a site visit in October 2016 and identified 15 strengths regarding Dayton Children’s trauma program.

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