Emergency/Trauma Care

Trauma Program

The CMMC Trauma Program is part of statewide effort to assure optimum care for trauma patients

CMMC is one of just three Maine regional trauma centers. A highly skilled trauma team that includes board-certified trauma surgeons and staff from the Emergency Department, the Critical Care Unit, and other key hospital departments follow carefully designed protocols to quickly evaluate and treat multiply-injured patients.

Code 11 is the planned response of all emergency care providers, including emergency physicians and trauma surgeons, respiratory therapists, laboratory scientists, radiology and medical imaging professionals, security officers, and emergency and intensive care nurses. While a critically injured trauma patient is on route to CMMC, the Code 11 team is activated and prepares to respond to the medical challenges the patient presents. This response is almost always initiated by the paramedic prehospital care provider who is in contact with the hospital during the patient's transport from the scene of the injury.

The Trauma Program quality improvement process was formalized with regular meetings that provide a forum for care providers to review the trauma patient care process and make improvements where necessary. This process includes a review of all trauma deaths, and an analysis of CMMC trauma care in comparison to national statistics. The quality improvement review process, which includes various ad hoc multi-disciplinary review projects, is ongoing. Adjustments to the Trauma Program are made on a daily basis as part of a continuous effort to improve trauma care.

CMMC routinely provides feedback on patient outcomes to hospitals that send patients to the Medical Center. This communication process promotes a commonality of care throughout the region. CMMC also provides regional support for the Trauma Registry, a database that includes information on all trauma patients in the state. This data collection system is one of two requirements that must be met for any hospital to be part of the Maine Trauma System.

Since its establishment in 1992, CMMC's Trauma Program has evolved into a tightly-organized and well-managed program that has gained respect and recognition both regionally and across the state. CMMC's program consistently meets or exceeds national standards for trauma care. The program has the most active educational curriculum of its type in Maine, offering formal trauma conferences and informal case-specific learning experiences to the full range of emergency care providers.

Over 500 trauma cases, many of them of the highest complexity, are treated each year at CMMC.