Level I Pediatric Trauma Center for 65,000 miles
In 2018 UC Davis Medical Center was re-verified as a level l trauma center, the highest level possible, by the American College of Surgeons — making it the only level l trauma center for both adults and children in inland Northern California, and one of only three in California.
Our hospital and trauma center serve a 33-county, 65,000-square-mile area with the help of the most comprehensive children’s critical-care transport team in Northern California. The program travels 24–7 by ambulance, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft to carry in more than 800 children each year, some from hundreds of miles away. In all, we saw more than 15,000 pediatric emergency department visits in FY 18/19.
Two decades of PECARN power
The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) and its major studies have helped care teams across the U.S. make treatment decisions with more evidence-based confidence — and less side effects on children. The group of 18 pediatric emergency departments in academic, urban and children’s hospitals serves more than 1 million acutely ill and injured children every year. Nathan Kuppermann, M.D., chair of UC Davis Health’s Department of Emergency Medicine was one of its founding principal investigators in 2001, and its chair for its first eight years. He continues as a principal investigator to this day, and was recently refunded for four more years in PECARN for $2.8 million.
New ER protocol for infants with fever
A JAMA Pediatrics study this year led by Nathan Kuppermann, M.D., also derived and validated a new emergency department protocol that can determine which young infants with fevers are at low risk of significant bacterial infections. The research, which involved nearly 2,000 patients at 26 hospitals, has important implications for identifying the need for spinal taps or other invasive care.
New high-tech, child-friendly ambulance
Our young referral patients throughout the region can now benefit from our new and improved transport ambulance. The new ambulance includes a state-of-the-art transport isolette for vulnerable neonatal patients, a technologically advanced air conditioning and heater system, crew cab space for family members, and a DVD player for patients.
