PEDIATRIC TRAUMA

If a child is in a situation where they need immediate care for life-threatening injuries, a pediatric trauma center provides all the resources. Not every hospital would have a trauma surgeon waiting there for the patient, as well as ICU and nursing teams specifically trained to care for pediatric trauma patients. Upstate is proud of the role it plays for the children and young teens of our region The Region’s Only Level-One Trauma Center

Letter from Program Leadership

Upstate’s Golisano Children’s Hospital’s Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center is a vital resource for Central New York (CNY). It is the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in the CNY Region, and is one of only seven ACS verified level I Pediatric Trauma Centers in the state of New York. Currently, we are one of the busiest Pediatric Trauma Center in New York State.

As a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, Upstate is available to serve the pediatric community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that children with injuries of all types receive the best evaluation and treatment possible. Caring for patients from infancy to 14 years of age, the Pediatric Trauma Center has the necessary resources and education to treat the most severely injured patients in the CNY Region.

To maintain its verification status, the Pediatric Trauma Program must go through a rigorous evaluation process by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ASC-COT) every three years. This

Location of Level I and II

Pediatric Trauma Centers, US

Sources: GAO analysis of American Trauma Society data (data) Map Resources (map). GAO-17-334 process helps to maintain our high standards and ensure our commitment to providing the best care to the populations we serve.

Note: To identify trauma center locations, we used 2015 data from the Trauma Information Exchange Program of the American Trauma Society. “High-level pediatric trauma center” refers to level I and level II pediatric trauma centers. In 2015, there were 136 high-level pediatric trauma centers in the United States.

ACS verification involves not only a responsibility to our patients but also to the regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and other hospitals in the area. Focus is placed on meeting ASC-COT, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Upstate University Hospital standards during the entire continuum of care. This begins with injury prevention and proceeds through the acute hospital phase to rehabilitation and/or follow up care. Areas such as quality improvement, outreach, and education are continually being evaluated based on the most current best practices and evidence-based research.

We are excited to share with you our Pediatric Trauma Report, highlighting those areas that make our Pediatric Trauma program one of the best in New York state. We hope you enjoy learning about the people and services involved in our achieving the distinction of being an ACS verified Level I Pediatric Trauma Center.

Kim Wallenstein, MD, PhD Pediatric Trauma Medical Director

Jill Hayward, MPH, BSN, RN, CPN Pediatric Trauma Program Manager