The Emergency and Trauma Center is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and is open 24 hours a day to provide immediate treatment for medical emergencies. Designated as a Paramedic Receiving Center, the Emergency and Trauma Center is staffed with experienced emergency medicine physicians and specially trained emergency nurses.
To improve emergency department (ED) patient satisfaction and throughput (the time from ED arrival to inpatient admission or ED discharge), St. Francis Medical Center implemented a bundle of interrelated strategies that included changes to the ED to facilitate faster service and the redesign of processes and policies to free up inpatient capacity.
Background
St. Francis Medical Center became a Level II American College of Surgeons (ACS) Verified Trauma Center in 1996. St. Francis is now celebrating its 15th Year Anniversary as a Trauma Center serving Los Angeles County. The ACS established the committee on trauma (COT) in 1987. The Verification/Consultation program for hospitals promotes the development of trauma centers in which verified trauma centers provide all enormous amount of extraordinary resources and commitment. St. Francis, in accordance with the goals of the LA County Trauma System, is located in Service Planning Area (SPA) Six. St. Francis remains committed to the mission of providing excellent comprehensive trauma care throughout the catchment area and beyond.
Trauma Services
Trauma services manage the treatment of trauma patients from the moment they are admitted to the hospital, through rehabilitation and entry back into their homes and communities. The trauma service ensures patients receive comprehensive care throughout their recovery.
St. Francis has a 3 tiered trauma team response. Analysis by the trauma service indicates patients can be effectively and efficiently treated with a limited team response, saving our full trauma team activations for those true critically injured patients.
The Trauma Department is composed of a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, nurses, clinical pharmacists, registrars, social workers, injury prevention educators, therapists and support staff.
Trauma department members are:
Dee Dee Pule, Trauma Data Registrar
Xavier Sanchez, Trauma Data Registrar
Caroline Plaza, Trauma Department Assistant
Paul Carrillo, CADCA, Injury Prevention Coordinator
Faye Chavis, CPHQ, Trauma QI Specialist
Mindy Thomas, RN, BSN, Trauma Clinician I
Matthew Yamami, RN, BSN, Trauma Clinician II
Renee Smith, RN, EdD(c), MSN, CEN, PHN, ACNP Trauma Program Manager
Almaas Shaikh, MD, FACS Associate Trauma Director
Tchaka Shepherd, MD, FACS, Trauma Medical Director
Trauma surgeons include:
Reginald Jones, MD, FACS
Jonathan Pryor, MD, FACS
Edward Sims, MD, FACS
Maxine Anderson, MD
Gracie Dinkins, MD
Danielle Dabbs, MD
Medical Director of Trauma Services
Tchaka Shepherd, MD, FACS
Critical Care Intensivists
Our dedicated team of trauma nurse clinicians provide clinical support and surveillance of trauma service patients thorough admission to discharge.
St. Francis Medical Center’s Trauma Service is very active educating throughout the State and local surrounding counties:
ATLS Faculty: Drs. Shepherd, Shaikh, Pryor, Dabbs
ATCN Faculty: Renee Smith, LA County Coordinator, Course Director
ENPC Faculty: Renee Smith, Course Director
TNCC: Renee Smith Course Director, Matt Yamami Lead Faculty
ATOM Faculty: Dr. Shepherd
ASSET Faculty: Dr. Shepherd
Critical Care Series: Drs. Shepherd and Shaikh
Injury Prevention / Community Outreach
VPC (Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles)
www.vpcgla.org
The SFMC Trauma Service is an institutional member of the VPC. The mission of the VPC is to be a powerful, unified voice and a resource for member organizations who are committed to developing healthy, safe communities, advocating for a prevention-based approach to reducing/eliminating violence, and creating social equity. Priority Activities for 2010-2013 include Capacity Building, Public Education and Policy/Advocacy.
HAVEN (Hospitals Against Violence Empowering Neighborhoods)
www.vpcgla.org/content/HAVEN
HAVEN’s mission is to use a collaborative effort to prevent injury, violence, and the associated consequences. Recognizing injury as a public health problem, HAVEN is dedicated to the eradication of preventable injuries by developing and supporting programs that prevent injuries. HAVEN was created in 2010 in response to the recognition that trauma is the number one killer of America’s youth. St. Francis Medical Center (SFMC) Trauma Services spearheaded an effort to create a collaborative of Los Angeles hospital trauma centers dedicated to the prevention of traumatic injuries. SFMC Trauma Services approached the Violence Prevention Coalition (VPC) to seek support in creating a unified collaborative approach founded on the idea that each individual trauma center could bring its own strength to the coalition now known as HAVEN.
Current hospital members:
St. Francis Medical Center
White Memorial
Harbor UCLA Medical Center
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
Kaiser Panorama City
Cedars Sinai Medical Center
St. Marys Medical Center
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
California Medical Center
Resources
American College of Surgeons (ACS) www.facs.org
American Trauma Society (ATS) www.amtrauma.org
American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) www.acep.org
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) www.aanp.org
Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA) www.astna.org
Center for Disease Control (CDC) www.cdc.org
Eastern Association for Surgery of Trauma (EAST) www.east.org
Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) www.ena.org
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) www.icisf.org
I’m Safe-Child Safety Solutions www.imsafe.com
Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research & Policy www.jhsph.edu
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) www.nhtsa.gov
National Institutes of Health (NIH) www.nih.gov
Safe Kids USA www.safekids.org
Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) www.traumanurses.org
Southern California Injury Prevention Research Program (SCIPRP) www.ph.ucla.edu/sciprc
Trauma Center Association of America (TCAA) www.traumafoundation.org
Trauma Managers Association of California (TMAC) www.traumamanagersca.org
Trauma Resuscitation After Resuscitation (TCAR) www.tcarprograms.com
Trauma.Org Care of the Injured www.trauma.org
SFMC Trauma Services in the News
St. Francis Medical Center Receives Trauma Services Verification: January 2011
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