CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck Emergency & Trauma Center has been verified again for an additional three years as a Level II Trauma Center by the Verification Review Committee (VRC), an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). CHI St. Alexius Emergency & Trauma Center has been a Level II Trauma Center since 1993, becoming the first in the region to bring the highest quality of trauma care to patients.
Verified trauma centers must meet the essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons' Committee on Trauma in its current Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual. “Trauma surgeons must be bedside for trauma code cases within fifteen minutes of their notification, and subspecialists like neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons arrive within thirty minutes. In many instances, they arrive at the trauma center before the patient,” states Derek Kane, MD, medical director of the trauma program at CHI St. Alexius Health.
Only seventeen out of more than 800 trauma patients were transferred to other medical facilities in 2019. “This really highlights the level of expertise and comprehensive care CHI St. Alexius provides.” states Dr. Kane. “All emergency physicians and trauma surgeons are required to be board-certified and complete additional certifications. All nurses in the emergency room and intensive care units must be current in the Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC) within one year of employment.” CHI St. Alexius in Bismarck is one of the only medical facilities in North Dakota, and the only in the region, to offer Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) classes to medical professionals serving central and western North Dakota, and the tri-state area.
The ACS Committee on Trauma's verification program provides confirmation that a trauma center has demonstrated its commitment to providing not only the hospital resources necessary for trauma care, but also the entire spectrum of care to address the needs of all injured patients. There are five separate categories of verification in the COT's program. Each hospital has an on-site review by a team of experienced site reviewers, who use the current Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual as a guideline in conducting the survey.