Services and Programs
Acute Care Surgery
Trauma Program
Surgical Critical Care
Acute Care Surgery
Our Acute Care Surgery service provides patients who require emergency surgery as a result of an accident or sudden illness with leading-edge surgical care. Patients are treated and receive continuous care from a small team of board-certified, attending (senior-level) acute care surgeons who are dedicated exclusively to the care and ongoing management of critically ill/trauma patients.
Using a multidisciplinary approach to provide the best possible care, this team frequently calls on the expertise of BIDMC surgeons in many other specialties, including neurosurgery, orthopedics, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, vascular surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery (including hand surgery), and urology. Patients also benefit from the immediate availability of emergency radiology services, including the full range of advanced imaging technologies, as well as the expertise of radiology subspecialists.
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Trauma Program
Our Trauma Program provides the highest level of multidisciplinary care for adult patients with all types and severity of traumatic injuries (except burns), including those sustained from motor vehicle accidents, firearms, falls, and other accidents. We are verified by the American College of Surgeons committee on Trauma and designated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as a Level 1 Trauma Center, an indication that we meet or exceed the strict requirements of this designation.
The Trauma Program is closely linked to BIDMC's Berenson Emergency Department, a state-of-the-art, 23,000 square-foot emergency facility that is not only one of the busiest emergency services in the Boston area, but also provides care for some of the most seriously ill and injured patients. Each year nearly 55,000 patients are treated in our Emergency Department.
Our Emergency Department is led by physicians who are board-certified in emergency medicine and staffed by experienced nurses. An acute care surgeon is in the Emergency Department within minutes (always fewer than 15 minutes) of the arrival of patients with serious injuries or illnesses that might require surgery.
BIDMC has a rooftop helipad to receive patients via air ambulance, primarily Boston MedFlight. Boston MedFlight provides critical care transport to patients regardless of their ability to pay, and is supported by a consortium of Boston hospitals, including BIDMC, which is a founding member.
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Surgical Critical Care
Our Surgical Critical Care service provides multidisciplinary, well-coordinated care for patients who have undergone complex surgical procedures resulting from trauma or sudden illness.
Following surgery and depending on their unique needs, patients may be cared for in one of our two state-of-the-art intensive care units - the 10-bed Trauma Surgical Intensive Care Unit (TSICU) or the 15-bed Surgical ICU (SICU) - our acute care unit (CC6), or our unit for patients with neurological conditions (Farr 11) .
The TSICU, which integrates surgery and anesthesia critical care, provides the highest level of monitoring and care for critically injured trauma patients, as well as patients with cardiac and respiratory collapse or multiple organ failure. The SICU provides general surgical post-operative care, as well as specialty care for neurosurgery patients.
Staffed 24/7 by attending (senior-level) board-certified acute care surgeons, as well as fellows and residents (licensed doctors supervised by senior surgeons) and registered nurses, our surgical critical care services ensure that seriously ill patients receive the most appropriate level of monitoring and attentive specialty care following surgery.
As a multidisciplinary service within a major academic medical center, Surgical Critical Care also provides patients with prompt access to the expertise of doctors in virtually every surgical and medical specialty and subspecialty.
While many doctors and other care providers are typically involved in the care of critically ill surgical patients, our patients and their families can be assured that there is close communication among care providers and that treatment is well-coordinated by the patient's primary team, which is always led by a senior acute care surgeon.
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