The Prowers Medical Center Emergency Department has always provided excellent emergency care. But now they’ve added a new service line for the community.

Effective November 8, 2022, Prowers Medical Center has earned the status of a Level IV Trauma-Designated facility. Trauma is a serious physical injury that requires immediate medical attention.

Becoming a designated trauma center means that the hospital has put processes and protocols in place to ensure that injured patients are assessed and treated quickly and with best practices for optimal patient care.

“The evidence shows that injured patients treated in a trauma-designated facility have better outcomes than those treated in a non-designated area, even in rural settings,” said Dr. Christine Bogardus, Prowers Medical Center’s Trauma Medical Director.

How Do Trauma Protocols Work?

Trauma Center processes ensure that when a trauma patient arrives in the Emergency Department (ED), all the appropriate clinicians are present to assess the patient and deliver rapid care. This is done by establishing a set of criteria to activate a trauma team. Initiating a trauma team involves communication between prehospital/emergency medical services and the Emergency Department.

Once the patient report is given, the team assembles in the ED. The trauma team includes a physician, nurses, a laboratory technician, an imaging technician, a respiratory therapist, a surgeon and other ancillary staff as needed.

“Standardizing trauma protocols allow for clinicians to be consistent and minimizes the opportunity for error,” said Tianne Woodward, Prowers Medical Center’s Trauma Nurse Coordinator. “The risk is that even if a patient presents in a stable condition, there can be underlying injuries that could be detrimental. Now, with these protocols, all injured patients will get a rapid evaluation by a multidisciplinary team that ensures they are assessed from all aspects of care.”

Part of a Trauma Network

In addition to tightening up assessment and care protocols, the Trauma Center designation makes Prowers Medical Center part of the statewide trauma hospital network. In this network trauma facilities work together to streamline patient care to efficiently transfer patients to higher-level trauma centers as needed.

Community Education and Continuous Improvement

Trauma Center designation also requires that community education and continuous improvement measures are in place.

In the coming months, watch for Prowers Medical Center to offer community education programs based on the most common causes of injury.

To ensure continuous improvement, Woodward, in conjunction with Dr. Bogardus and with help from Dr. William Quirk, Prowers Medical Center’s ED Co-Director, will review every trauma case that comes through the hospital. The review process will be a multistep approach. It will identify any areas of opportunity for improvement throughout the trauma patient’s continuum of care. These opportunities will then be presented to a multidisciplinary committee, where action plans will be identified and implemented to improve patient care.

“We are proud to be able to serve our community with essential trauma services,” said Leslie Day, Prowers Medical Center’s Emergency Services Manager. “Now that we are a level IV Trauma-Designated facility, we have the processes in place to not only deliver quality trauma care but also continue to improve.”