Emergency Department

Emergency Department 1. The facility must have an emergency department, division, service, or section staffed so trauma patients are assured immediate and appropriate initial care. The emergency physician must be in-house 24 hours/day and immediately available at all times. The emergency department medical director must meet the recommended requirements related to commitment, experience, continuing education, ongoing credentialing, and current or previous board certification in emergency medicine. 2. The director of the emergency department, along with the Trauma Medical Director (TMD), will establish trauma-specific credentials that should exceed those that are required for general hospital privileges. Examples of credentialing requirements would include skill proficiency, training requirements, conference attendance, education requirements, ATLS verification, and specialty board certification. 3. The emergency medicine physician or designee will be responsible for activating the trauma team based on predetermined response protocols. He will provide team leadership and care for the trauma patient until the arrival of the surgeon in the resuscitation area. The emergency department must have established standards and procedures to ensure immediate and appropriate care for the adult and pediatric trauma patient. The emergency department medical director, or his/her designee, must act as a liaison and participate with the multidisciplinary trauma committee and the trauma PI process. 4. There should be an adequate number of RN's staffed for the trauma resuscitation area in-house 24 hours/day. Emergency nurses staffing the trauma resuscitation area must be a current provider of Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum (TNCC), or Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses (ATCN), and participate in the ongoing PI process of the trauma program. Nurses must obtain TNCC or ATCN within 18 months of assignment to the ER. 5. The list of required equipment necessary for the ED can be found online at the Department’s website.