Trauma Services

Trauma is the leading cause of death in the United States for

persons age 1 through 44 years - specifically 43% of all deaths ages 1 through 4, 48% of all deaths ages 4 through 14 and 62% of all deaths ages 15 through 24. 

The Trauma Department at United Regional has been tracking trauma

patients through our health care system for 18 years. As a result of these

efforts, a database known as the Trauma Registry, is filled with information

on more that 9,400 injury victims. When a patient is hospitalized as a

result of traumatic injury, the Trauma Department steps forward to look at

many aspects of the situation including circumstance, treatment, cost and

outcome.

The Trauma Registry is designed to store and report data about patients          hospitalized as a result of injury.

Specific information entered on each patient include:

• how the patient was injured

• when and where the injury occurred

• initial vital signs and glasgow coma scale

• physician response time

• services provided while on scene, during EMS transport, while in the

emergency department, during surgery, and throughout intensive care

or other in-patient phases of the hospital stay

• discharge information

• patient outcome

• complications

• and many other key elements of injury

How We Use the Trauma Registry

All information entered in the Trauma Registry is reported monthly to 

the Texas State Trauma Registry, as required by the Texas Department of

Health. State officials are then able to evaluate trauma statistics across

the service area.

The Trauma Registry is used by our Trauma Committee, and other entities              to design Injury Prevention activities.  The data also supports quality

improvement activities for medical and nursing staff and helps to improve

care to patients hospitalized after a traumatic event. The wealth of data

available from the trauma registry allows us to study, plan, and implement

care of the trauma patients at United Regional.