Bay Medical Center

Hospitals that qualify as a designated trauma center provide trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, and multiple surgical and non-surgical specialists available within 30 minutes or less, 24 hours a day, as well as the necessary equipment and facilities for immediate and follow-up treatment for severely injured patients. Having fast access to a hospital that has been verified by the Department of Health as a trauma center is critical to survival in the event of severe injury. When the most critically injured patients are treated at trauma centers, they receive the highest level of care in the most cost effective setting and preventable trauma related deaths are reduced as much as 20 percent, according to the Journal of Emergency Surgery, versus trauma care in a typical emergency room. Trauma center care is associated with an 8 percent decrease in mortality from motor vehicle crashes alone.