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As the only Level I trauma center in Orange County, UC Irvine Medical Center provides the most advanced trauma and critical care treatment available to adults and children with life-threatening injuries. Many of these patients must be rushed into surgery to undergo lifesaving procedures. The board-certified surgeons of UC Irvine’s Trauma and Critical Care Services team provide the full spectrum of care for traumatic injuries 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The medical center, which is verified by the American College of Surgeons as meeting the nation’s highest standards of trauma care, has 19 state-of-the-art inpatient operating rooms, all of which are equipped with the most advanced imaging and surgical technology. The trauma team also calls upon UC Irvine Healthcare specialists in emergency medicine, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, anesthesiology, radiology and head and neck surgery to design the most effective and comprehensive treatment for each patient.

After surgery, the trauma and critical care team supervises patients in UC Irvine Douglas Hospital’s state-of-the-art intensive care units (ICU), including a surgical ICU, a neurosurgical ICU and the burn ICU. All the ICUs have the latest monitoring equipment to ensure the best patient care.

Trauma is the leading cause of death in people under 45, and injuries due to car crashes, falls, burns and other accidents steal more prime years of life than heart disease and cancer combined. Survivors of traumatic injuries are often robbed of their productivity during extensive periods of hospitalization and rehabilitation.

UC Irvine Healthcare’s highly skilled trauma specialists understand that the circumstances that have brought patients to the trauma center may be unexpected and very challenging. These experts have dedicated their professional lives to meeting the needs of these patients, including providing full rehabilitation services and ongoing outpatient care after discharge. As Orange County’s only university hospital, UC Irvine also is at the forefront of trauma research.