Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital has its own suite of operating rooms with an assigned team of anesthesiologists, nurses, and scrub technicians to receive those patients requiring emergency surgical intervention. A team of surgeons can repair damaged blood vessels in a chest while a neurosurgery team works on a head injury, and an orthopaedics team re-sets a broken arm or leg. This multiple-team approach provides faster recovery times and promotes better outcomes for patients.

Because low temperatures can be dangerous to trauma patients who have lost a significant amount of blood, the operating suites are equipped with special warm-air vents, warming blankets, and rapid infusion devices that provide warm fluids – as much as the patient needs.

For patients who prefer not to receive blood, alternative care can be provided through Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery.

Because children tend to recover more quickly from injuries than adults, the Ryder Trauma team – which includes pediatric surgeons and pediatric intensive care specialists – usually takes a conservative approach, operating only when necessary. Head injuries are the most frequent cause of death in pediatric trauma cases; so pediatric neurosurgeons and neurologists play an active role in treating these cases.

The center’s trauma anesthesiologists are another integral part of the operating team. Since a patient who has lost a large amount of blood cannot be given the same dosage of drugs as a “normal” patient, the extra training and experience of the center’s anesthesiologists contributes to the team’s positive results.