Kona Community Hospital Trauma Center
Currently, the most frequent injuries in West Hawaii that require trauma activation at Kona Community Hospital Trauma Center are caused by falls and motorized vehicle crashes including cars, motorcycles, mopeds and ATVs.
In 2019, the KCH trauma team was activated 233 times, treating a total of 410 patients. In 2020, 133 trauma activations involved 338 patients. Wendi Wagner, RN, Trauma Program Manager points out that 2020 trauma activations were down due to county-wide COVID restrictions. In 2021 to date, the trauma team has been activated 81 times, involving a total of 184 patients.
As a Level III Trauma Center, KCH is able to provide efficient assessment; resuscitation, stabilization, emergency surgery and patient transfer to a definitive care facility. Th e trauma center’s multi-disciplinary team includes staff from Emergency, Imaging, Laboratory, Nursing Supervisors,
Surgical Services, Respiratory Therapy, Security and Social Services.
The KCH Trauma Center is proud to have recently been re-verified as a Level III Trauma Center by the Trauma Center Association of America (TCAA). This achievement recognizes the trauma center’s dedication to providing optimal care for injured patients in the West Hawaii community.
The tri-annual re-verification follows an intensive two-day survey by TCAA to validate that the KCH trauma center meets stringent criteria set by the Hawaii Department of Health as outlined by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.
High level criteria require that a level III trauma center have a continuous performance improvement program to review and identify systems, operations and patient outcomes for improvement. The trauma center must also participate in regular, comprehensive regional and state trauma system meetings.
Additional Level III trauma center
criteria include:
- Multi-tier trauma activation protocol
- 24/7 emergency services and trauma trained staff and physicians
- 24/7 on call general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and anesthesia providers
- On-call surgical team with the ability to be on-site within 30 minutes
- Laboratory and blood bank services
- 24/7 imaging including Computerized tomography scan (CT scan)
Wagner said, “The trauma designation is a quantifiable benchmark used nationwide to demonstrate quality of care.”
When asked about the rigors of the triannual re-verification, Wagner mused, “As the world of trauma care evolves, KCH will evolve as well in order to provide the expected and measurable Level III trauma center care required by the American College of Surgeons. Th e most important aspect, besides direct trauma patient care, is the review of the trauma care provided, and the identification of opportunities for improvement through our continuous quality improvement program.
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