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Inova Regional Trauma Center

The Inova Regional Trauma Center is Northern Virginia's only level 1 (highest level) trauma center for both adults and children. It also is the only trauma center in Virginia certified by the American College of Surgeons.

Based at Inova Fairfax Hospital, trauma center specialists provide rapid response to all trauma patients, around the clock. For the most seriously ill or injured patients -- including children, infants and newborns -- Inova AirCare, the flying intensive care unit, provides helicopter transport within a 200-mile radius of the hospital.

The Inova Regional Trauma Center admits about 2,300 pediatric and adult trauma patients annually. Most come from Fairfax County, but some are brought in from surrounding counties and from Maryland and West Virginia. The trauma center treats victims of motor vehicle crashes, falls, industrial accidents and violence. Burn patients are stabilized and then transferred to a burn center.

When Trauma Occurs
Fairfax County Emergency Medical System (EMS) personnel respond immediately with highly trained personnel. Basic life support arrives within four to six minutes, and advanced life support arrives within four to seven minutes of a 911 call. Trauma patients are brought to the Inova Regional Trauma Center by ground or air, depending on the severity of their injuries, travel distance and traffic conditions. Both the Fairfax County Police helicopter and the Inova AirCare helicopter fly critically injured patients to the trauma center.

When a Patient Arrives
At the Inova Regional Trauma Center, a team of trauma responders is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to receive trauma patients into two fully equipped trauma bays. Board-certified specialty physicians are on-call and available at any time.

The center responds to each patient based on the severity of the injury.

• Code Blue patients are severely injured patients with unstable vital signs. EMS personnel notify IRTC trauma responders via pager and a Code Blue team assembles immediately to receive the patient. The team includes a trauma surgeon, emergency medicine physician, senior surgical resident, trauma nurses and other care providers.
  
  
• Code Yellow patients are seriously injured but have stable vital signs. Team composition and response are modified slightly for these patients.

Quality of Care
All Inova Regional Trauma Center physician specialists are board certified or board eligible in their specialty. In addition, each medical department and section, in collaboration with the chief of trauma services, has established continuing medical education requirements for participation in the trauma program. The emergency department, the trauma/medical/surgical ICU and the pediatric intensive care unit all have standard criteria for nurses and trauma responders. Nurses who care for trauma patients have mandatory competencies specific to the trauma population and receive ongoing continuing education in trauma care.

Continuum of Care
Trauma is the most serious and most preventable of all health problems. It is also the third leading cause of death in the United States. The Inova Regional Trauma Center and Inova Health System are proud to be leaders in efforts to prevent trauma and injury and enhance the quality of life and health in our community. We work to help ensure that each trauma patient receives consistently high quality, coordinated care from the prehospital phase through hospitalization, rehabilitation and recovery. To reach the Inova Regional Trauma Center call 703-776-4001.