The specialized trauma services at Suburban Hospital Trauma Center are provided by highly trained medical professionals for critically injured patients.

At Suburban Hospital, trauma care starts with the 911 call and continues throughout the entire hospital admission. The impending arrival of a trauma patient triggers our coordinated in-hospital response by a special trauma team that may include a trauma surgeon, a senior surgical resident, an anesthesiologist, an emergency medicine physician, a trauma nurse, a trauma nurse assistant, a critical care nurse, an operating room nurse, a respiratory therapist and a radiology technologist, along with other critical resource personnel, such as the nursing supervisor, the chaplain and the hospital's security staff. In addition, a wide range of subspecialty medical services such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, plastic surgery and cardiology are available on call 24 hours a day to provide additional evaluations and care as needed.

On arrival, a severely injured trauma patient goes directly to one of the fully equipped dedicated trauma bays housed in a special treatment area of the Emergency Department. Through prompt evaluation and resuscitation using state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge techniques, life-threatening injuries can be rapidly diagnosed and treated immediately under the direction of a board-certified trauma surgeon. When necessary, the patient can be taken within minutes to the operating room, where highly skilled nurses and staff are available 24 hours a day.

Following initial management, the trauma patient will be admitted to one of Suburban Hospital's three inpatient trauma units. Throughout the patient's entire hospitalization and care, the trauma center maintains an organized team approach whose ultimate goal is the person's recovery, rehabilitation and return to the community. In addition to the trauma surgeon, subspecialty physicians and trauma nurses, the inpatient care team consists of trained physical, occupational and speech therapists and a trauma case manager who coordinates optimal discharge planning.

The Trauma Center staff is available to trauma patients and their families 24 hours a day. All inpatient trauma units have adjoining private meeting rooms for frequent interaction between the trauma team and patient family members. Knowing how stressful trauma can be for both patient and family, specially trained social workers from the Crisis Intervention department are also available to help in the Emergency Department and the inpatient units. They can be reached by calling the main ER at 301-896-3880.

When you arrive at Suburban Hospital Trauma Center, you can rest assured that your loved one will receive the best medical and surgical care possible. All our trauma surgeons and other trauma specialists are board certified and highly trained in the management of traumatic injuries. All nurses who care for trauma patients also have mandatory competencies and continuing education requirements specific to trauma care. In addition, the quality of trauma care is constantly monitored and reviewed by dedicated clinical and administrative trauma staff, which includes the Medical Director of Trauma Services, the Trauma Program Nurse Director, the Trauma Program Nurse Reviewer and the Trauma Program Administrative Coordinator. Any member of the trauma program staff can be reached thru the Customer Relations line at 301-896-2000.

Suburban Hospital Trauma Center is also heavily involved in trauma education and prevention. Many community programs involving pedestrian safety, child-related safety issues and "drinking, drug and driving" awareness are initiated at Suburban Hospital. For more information on these programs or other support groups, please call Community Outreach at 301-896-3844.

For additional online resources, visit the American Trauma Society's Trauma Survivors Network.