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Q. What is the difference between a Level I trauma center and my local emergency department?

A. Level I trauma center is the highest designation given by the American College of Surgeons. It means the hospital is optimally prepared to manage any type of trauma 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The criteria for this designation are substantial and include in-house surgeons, immediately available operating rooms, staffed and available CT scanners, trauma trained nurses and technicians in the emergency department, surgical critical care, 24/7 blood bank operation, and immediately available subspecialists (neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, reimplantation surgeons, etc). A non-trauma center is unlikely to have the staff, resources and expertise to optimally manage complex multi-trauma patients. The trauma center must also have a trauma prevention program, a trauma specific quality assurance process and provide trauma care leadership and expertise to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Lastly, a Level I trauma center must maintain a trauma specific education and research program. At UC Irvine, we train five new surgeons and two trauma/critical care surgeons each year.

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