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Minnesota
Department of Health designates
Bridges as
a Level IV Trauma Hospital
Bridges joined the MN Department of Health in the fight to
improve the care of seriously injured patients by meeting
the requirements to become a Level IV Trauma Hospital.
Bridges received its certificate along with a letter from
Department of Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan, M.D., Ph.D.
who wrote, “On behalf of the citizens of MN, thank you for
your continued and diligent efforts to ensure that seriously
injured patients in this state are cared for competently and
expeditiously.”
Trauma (serious injury) claims about 2,500 lives each year
in our state and has been identified as the leading cause of
death for Minnesotans from 1 to 44 years of age. In 2006 the
MN Department of Health established criteria for a statewide
trauma system. So far only about 20% of the state’s 139
hospitals have met the requirements for designation.
With this certification, Bridges becomes part of a much
larger system that currently includes Level II Trauma
Centers like Innovis Health and Meritcare in Fargo and Altru
in Grand Forks, as well as Level I Centers in the Twin
Cities and Rochester. Riverview Hospital in Crookston, also
a Level IV Trauma Center, is the only other hospital in
Northwestern MN to have completed the certification as of
January 1.
The purpose of a statewide trauma system is to promote
consistency in the treatment of seriously injured patients
and to establish criteria for seamless transfer to higher
levels of care when appropriate. Bridges’ Emergency
Department is trained and equipped to treat many minor to
moderate injuries, and to stabilize and triage severe
injuries. Triage is a method of sorting patients by type
and severity of injury to ensure prompt transfer of critical
patients to the appropriate next level of care. In many
cases, a patient’s condition can be stabilized or improved
by care at a community hospital making transfer to more
distant regional trauma centers, safer with a better chance
of a positive outcome.
In preparation for this designation, Bridges sent teams of
physicians, mid-level providers, and nurses to Comprehensive
Advanced Life Support training, and hosted additional
regional classes in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Trauma
Nursing, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. The hospital
also made sure that it had all of the required equipment and
that it’s policies and procedures matched state requirements
for a trauma center.
“It really wasn’t much more than some fine tuning for us,”
said Bridges Director of Nursing Steve Spaeth. “We already
had everything except for a couple of small items and a few
recommended medications. We reviewed our policies and made
the updates and changes that state recommended. It’s not
like we are new to providing trauma care, this just
formalized our relationship with the other trauma centers
and made us part of the developing statewide system.”
State Trauma System Coordinator, Tim Held, commended
Bridges for its initiative in being among the first to
complete the process and for its dedication to quality
trauma care.
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