A trauma team in the emergency room consists of doctors, nurses, and technicians who treat patients with serious illnesses or injuries. The team leader coordinates the team’s activities, and specialists are added as needed. The team is trained in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) to evaluate and treat trauma patients.
A trauma team is a team of doctors, nurses, and technicians who work in the emergency room of a hospital, treating patients with serious illnesses or injuries that require immediate attention. The core of a trauma team consists of ten caregivers, including the emergency room physician, anesthetist, and two nurses. If there is no anesthetist assistant present, she may be replaced by a third nurse. Additional staff, such as a neurosurgeon, can be added to the team if their specialty is needed.
The trauma team leader is responsible for coordinating the activities of the trauma team. He or she decides the team’s course of action, gives instructions to other team members, receives and interprets important information such as the results of investigative procedures and, if necessary, consults with other specialists. The trauma team leader is usually a surgeon, emergency physician, or anesthetist.
The anesthetist and assistant anesthetist are responsible for monitoring the patient’s condition. They monitor the patient’s vital signs and the administration of fluids and medications. They are responsible for controlling the airways to prevent obstruction to the patient’s breathing and for controlling the cervical spine if the patient’s injury puts him or her at risk for spinal injury. They also administer analgesics and anesthetics as needed for pain control.
The general surgeon evaluates injuries to the patient’s abdomen and chest and makes the necessary incisions to access chest organs, such as the heart and lungs, a process called a thoracostomy. If a neurosurgeon is not present, the general surgeon also evaluates the patient’s head. The orthopedic surgeon evaluates the spine, pelvis, and limbs; dresses wounds; stabilizes fractures; and ensures intravenous access. The ER doctor assists the two surgeons and can even perform some of the same procedures if needed, increasing efficiency by allowing all three doctors to continue working at the same time.
Nursing staff assist the physician, surgeons, and anesthesiologist if an assistant anesthetist is not present. The radiologist takes a series of x-rays, usually starting with the cervical spine and then moving to the chest and pelvis. The scribe records patient information, including injuries, vital signs, and test results, as well as medications and fluids administered, and the names of personnel present. Specialists sometimes hired to assist trauma teams include radiologists, plastic surgeons, and neurosurgeons, depending on the nature of the trauma being treated.
In the United States and many other nations, trauma teams are trained in a program called Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), also known as Early Management of Severe Trauma (EMST). When a patient arrives, an ATLS-trained trauma team begins a series of procedures to evaluate and treat trauma patients, with the most urgent potential life threats treated first. They begin by checking, and if necessary unblocking, the patient’s airways, then progress to chest injuries, blood loss, and then a neurological evaluation. Finally, they address the patient’s environmental conditions to prevent hypothermia, a common cause of death in people who have suffered severe blood loss. Once the patient’s condition has stabilized and the more immediate threats to her life have been addressed, a more thorough secondary investigation can begin.
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