Manning Family Children’s Hospital in New Orleans is the first hospital in Louisiana and the Gulf South to become a Level 1 pediatric trauma center, a designation that means the hospital can treat patients under the age of 18 with the most serious trauma injuries and emergencies.
In order to receive the designation from the American College of Surgeons, which was approved for Children’s Hospital earlier this week, hospitals must have access to pediatric trauma surgeons, specialized pediatric equipment and year-round, 24-hour pediatric intensive care units, among other requirements.
Now, within LCMC Health, pediatric trauma patients in the New Orleans region will be directed to Manning Family Children’s rather than University Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center for adults, according to LCMC.
Both children and adults can be treated at all Level 1 trauma centers, according to Dr. David Yu, the chief medical officer at Manning Family Children’s, but pediatric trauma centers have the capacity for specialized providers and more pediatric-sized equipment…