As the blaring sirens and bright lights of ambulances bring the
sick and injured to the UCLA Trauma Center, one certainty is that
they will receive high-quality care from employees working in a
center which has garnered many distinctions.
While efficiency and attention is all too common at the UCLA
Trauma Center, other trauma centers in the area struggle to provide
proper treatment for patients due to serious concerns about the
budget.
California’s trauma centers “provide the highest
levels of emergency care to the most critically ill and injured
patients,” but research into the financial problems of the
Los Angeles trauma system has confirmed its “tenuous fiscal
future,” according to a report concerning the state’s
trauma care issued in September 2002 by the California Health Care
Foundation.
For over half a decade now, emergency room managers, doctors and
legislators have struggled with the financial crises plaguing the
trauma centers.
Back in October 2000, five of Los Angeles County’s 10
private trauma centers were on the brink of closing due to
financial difficulties, according to the California HealthCare
Foundation report.
Politicians have also been dealing with the issue. In January
2002, former Gov. Gray Davis was asked to withdraw a budget
proposal by legislators because it called for a $25 million cut to
state trauma centers.
Despite such circumstances, the UCLA Trauma Center has excelled
and now achieved a verification as a Level 1 adult and pediatric
trauma center, one of the highest levels of verified commendation
such a center can receive.
The distinction was awarded by the American College
Surgeons’ Trauma Verification Committee, a group which
examines trauma centers across the nation and recognizes them for
their “commitment to providing the highest quality trauma
care for all the injured patients,” as stated in a UCLA press
release issued Aug. 12.
“We’ve been able to take a patient to operating
within 15 minutes of arrival. That’s very fast,” said
Dr. Marilyn Cohen, the trauma nurse coordinator for the trauma
center.
Due to the productivity and speed of care, those working at the
center say the honor doesn’t come as a surprise. Maintaining
a well-run trauma center is valued by both the trauma center staff
and UCLA administration.
“It is a commitment by the administration and the trauma
service and the people involved,” said Cohen. “It is a
commitment to the community.”
Various guidelines must be met to gain verification as a Level 1
adult and pediatric trauma center. These include the specification
that there must be at least two pediatric-trained orthopedic
surgeons, neurosurgeons, pediatric surgeons and emergency medicine
physicians staffed.
The UCLA Trauma Center services nearly 1,000 patients every year
and makes sure to have doctors ready to deal with everything from
motor vehicle accidents to gunshot and knife wounds.
“The work is very labor intensive. … We have a panel of
experts immediately available, including neurosurgeons and
orthopedic surgeons,” Cohen said.
Along with having doctors that are experts in their field ready
at all times, the trauma center also has a blood bank available and
participates in community outreach.
“The resources that the UCLA Medical Center has committed
to trauma care have made us an outstanding community
resource,” said Dr. Henry Cryer, professor of surgery and
chief of trauma, emergency surgery and surgical critical care in
the department of surgery at the UCLA David Geffen School of
Medicine.
But above all, the trauma center’s capability to provide
the necessary care quickly is its strength, said Cohen.
“Our ability to move someone very quickly from the field
through emergency services to definitive care in a very timely
manner allows us to save lives,” she added.