For Healthcare Professionals
For decades, the OHSU Trauma Center has served as a hub for trauma care, resources and education for providers throughout the state, all with the goal of optimizing patient care and outcomes.
Our experts are dedicated to collaborating with your team so that Oregonians receive the best possible trauma care statewide. You’ll find:
- Tools to help you manage transfers and navigate Oregon’s trauma care system.
- Online patient monitoring, so you can track their progress through Oregon’s trauma system in real time.
- A collaborative learning model with OHSU’s trauma experts, who offer guidance on complex cases and work with you to understand the strengths and limitations of your care setting.
- Professional conferences and events to take your trauma care to the next level.
- Outreach and continuing education tailored to the needs of your trauma team.
How to navigate Oregon’s trauma system
The Oregon Health Authority’s Area Trauma Advisory Board (ATAB) provides a framework for how trauma patients move through the state’s trauma system. OHSU is in ATAB Region 1.
ATAB regional system
The Oregon Health Authority’s Area Trauma Advisory Board (ATAB) provides a framework for how trauma patients move through the state’s trauma system. OHSU is in ATAB Region 1.
Trauma patients in your area may be cared for in an ATAB region close to home or transferred to OHSU to access the resources of our Level 1 trauma center.
Patient transfer system
The OHSU Trauma Center receives local patients by ambulance in Region 1, and, increasingly, as transfers from outside the region.
About 40% of our patients are transfers. OHSU’s Patient Transfer Center operates 24/7 to make sure the process goes smoothly.
The center serves as EMS communication hub, connecting emergency providers in the field with OHSU’s trauma experts for advice, especially in complex cases. It also coordinates transport and admission, so our care teams are up to date on each patient’s condition and can meet them with a treatment plan in place.
The Transfer Center manages more than 9,000 transfers a year. When you initiate a transfer, our team:
- Connects you with an OHSU attending physician on a dedicated, recorded phone line.
- Monitors the call and conferences in additional specialists as needed.
- Secures bed assignments, notifies the referring nursing staff and coordinates nursing reports.
- Facilitates transportation when needed.
- Tracks transport progress and gives medical teams updates on patient condition.
- Shares information about delays, problems or changes in patient status to attending physicians.
You can start a transfer online or by calling 503-494-7000 or 800-648-6478 (toll-free).
Real-time patient monitoring
Like leading medical centers across the country, OHSU has invested in a real-time, secure provider portal to ease the flow of information no matter where you are in Oregon.
EpicCare Link uses Epic health care software to give you HIPAA-compliant access to patients’ OHSU electronic medical record. It also replaces manual, one-off communication with a seamless web-based system, allowing trauma support staff to devote resources more directly to patient care.
With EpicCare Link you can monitor and communicate about your trauma patients’ care around the clock, including:
- Direct access to lab results, imaging reports, progress notes, discharges summaries, and other medical documentation in real time.
- E-mail notification of admissions, ED visits, abnormal lab results and other patient activity.
- Secure e-mail messaging with OHSU medical staff.
The portal is available to all referring providers and their staff. Request an EpicCare Link account.
OHSU clinical guidelines
OHSU takes seriously its role of defining a single standard of care for all providers who interact with our system.
We know that trauma care needs vary widely. Whether you want details about our ECMO policy, are seeking care guidance for an abdominal stab wound or have other questions about the standard of care at OHSU, you can find them in our clinical guidelines for trauma care. OHSU Clinical Guidelines to be posted Fall 2022.
Continuing education for physicians
OHSU’s efforts to improve trauma care statewide include several pioneering courses for physicians who manage trauma patients.
Whether you infrequently care for traumatic injuries or want to make sure your surgical practice is prepared to handle severely injured patients, you’ll find a course to fit your needs.
Who is it for?
Doctors who manage early care of injured patients.
If you infrequently treat trauma, the course provides an easy-to-remember method for evaluating and treating victims. If you often handle trauma cases, the course offers a scaffold for evaluation, treatment, education and quality assurance.
What will you learn?
Injured patients present a wide range of complex problems. The system of trauma care presented in this course is a concise framework for assessing and managing the multiply injured
that can be easily adapted to your needs.
You will gain the knowledge and skills to:
- Assess a patient’s condition rapidly and accurately
- Resuscitate and stabilize the patient according to priority
- Determine if the patient’s needs exceed your facility’s capacity
- Arrange appropriately for an inter-hospital transfer
- Ensure that the patient receives optimum care and that the level of care does not deteriorate at any point during evaluation resuscitation, or transfer.
Registration details
- When: Course dates being confirmed
- Where: OHSU Marquam Hill/South Waterfront
- How much: $950
- Sign up: traumaeducation@ohsu.edu
ATLS course dates
2024:
- February 22 – Refresher Course
- February 23 – Refresher Course
- April 23 – Refresher Course (*at the Northwest States Trauma Conference)
- July 25 & 26 – Student Course – Limited space available
- October 4 – Instructor Course
- October 11 – Refresher Course
Who is it for?
This course is the only one of its kind offered in the U.S. It is designed for surgeons and advanced surgical trainees who want to hone their surgical decision making in complex scenarios. It is particularly valuable for surgeons who serve rural areas and may have limited options for transferring trauma patients.
What will you learn?
This intensive two-and-a-half day course focuses on strategic thinking and decision-making for the care of severely injured patients. It also provides practical surgical skills to manage major organ injuries.
Through lectures, interactive case discussions and lab-based skills training, you’ll gain:
- Deeper knowledge of surgical decision-making in complex situations.
- Operative techniques for critically ill trauma patients.
- Hands-on experience working with nationally and internationally known instructors.
- Insight into difficult trauma situations. These include handling major thoracic, cardiac and abdominal injuries and learned techniques for hemorrhage control.
Registration details
- When: May 21 - 23, 2024
- Where: OHSU campus
- How much: $3,500
- Sign up: traumaeducation@ohsu.edu
- View Flyer: DSTC & ASSET flyer - download
Continuing education for nurses
Trauma care is a team effort. Whether you are new to trauma nursing or have practiced for many years, OHSU can connect you with courses that sharpen your skills and ability to care for traumatic injuries.
Who is it for?
Nurses of all experience levels who provide care to trauma patients, particularly in emergency settings.
What will you learn?
This two-day course offers background to help you understand core-level trauma and gain the psychomotor skills associated with delivering nursing care to trauma patients. It supports emergency trauma care provided in a variety of settings — large and small, rural and urban.
Through lectures and hands-on skill stations, you will:
- Learn a systematic framework for trauma assessment.
- Sharpen your cognitive and technical skills.
- Gain a foundation for future learning.
Registration details
- When: TNCC is offered throughout the year. Find a course that fits your schedule.
- Where: Virtually or in-person throughout Oregon
Who is it for?
Emergency, perioperative, critical care, acute care and rehabilitation providers, particularly registered nurses.
The 16-hour course also benefits physical therapists, paramedics, social workers, dietitians, respiratory therapists, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, LVNs/LPNs and others who interact with hospitalized trauma patients.
What will you learn?
You’ll gain the core-level, evidence-based information and clinical reasoning skills necessary to address the needs of the hospitalized trauma patient. TCAR covers a range of pathophysiologic and nursing concepts that relate to trauma care. It is a broad, core-level program, not an advanced or specialty-specific course.
Foundational concepts include:
- understanding the trauma care spectrum
- the biomechanics of trauma
- the body’s response to injury
Case scenarios include:
- the patient with thoracic injury
- the patient with abdominal injury
- the patient with musculoskeletal injury
- the patient with head injury
- the patient with spine & spinal cord injury
Registration details
- When: : TCAR is offered virtually throughout the year. Find a course that fits your schedule.
- Where: Online
- How much: $335
Training for trauma teams
We understand that delivering trauma care is different for the region’s rural and coastal providers than for those who have nearby access to a Level 1 trauma center.
OHSU’s continuing education efforts include the ability to bring our courses into your community. We tailor the discussion and case presentations to reflect the actual equipment, staff resources and clinical settings in which you work.
Who is it for?
Acute care providers (surgeons; anesthesiologists; emergency medicine physicians; emergency room, operating room, ICU and trauma nurses) and prehospital professionals who are likely to be the first receivers of casualties following major disasters.
Other health care providers, administrators, public health personnel and emergency managers are also encouraged to attend.
What will you learn?
This one-day course teaches planning methods, preparedness and medical management of trauma patients in mass casualty disaster situations.
Using lectures and interactive scenarios, the course covers incident command terminology, principles of disaster triage, injury patterns and availability of assets for support.
You will gain an understanding of:
- The surgical problems, injury patterns and issues that may result from disasters
- The role that surgeons can play in planning for and responding to mass casualty incidents and disasters, especially at the hospital level
- The terms and concepts of incident command
- The principles and challenges of disaster triage
- Treatment principles related to blast injury, chemical attacks, and radiological dispersal devices
- The civilian and military assets available for support
Who should sign up?
Health care providers who serve rural communities, especially those involved in the initial evaluation and resuscitation of trauma patients at a rural facility.
What will you learn?
This one-day course is based on the concept that in most situations, rural facilities can form a trauma team with three core members. It includes interactive lectures on medical procedures and communication strategies as well as three team-performance scenarios.
You’ll come away knowing how to:
- Organize a rural trauma team with defined roles and responsibilities
- Prepare a rural facility for appropriate care of the injured patient
- Identify local resources and limitations
- Assess and resuscitate a trauma patient
- Determine the need to transfer a patient to a higher level of care.
- Initiate the transfer process early
- Establish a performance improvement process
- Encourage effective communication
- Define the relationship between the rural trauma facility and the regional trauma system
Registration details
- When: Dates confirmed by requesting sites
- Where: At requested sites
- Sign up: traumaeducation@ohsu.edu
Trauma conferences
As a leader in trauma research and education, OHSU’s trauma team often presents at professional conferences. These include events hosted by our team and conferences held nationwide.
Northwest States Trauma Conference
Organized by the OHSU Trauma Center, this two-day event will take place April 24-26, 2024 in Sunriver. For more than 30 years, the conference has presented the most up to date research and clinical information for trauma physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and allied health professionals. The agenda includes presentations from local leaders in trauma care as well as nationally and internationally recognized guest speakers. Recent topics include the challenges of rural trauma care, mass casualty and blood products, and considerations for transgender patients during trauma surgery.
Conference recordings are available to view, and to claim continuing nursing education credits, up to 11 months after the event.
Fall Trauma Nursing Conference
This one-day virtual event is hosted by OHSU and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. The conference is for nurses and other providers who work in adult and pediatric critical care, emergency medicine and acute care units. The agenda includes presentations from regional and national speakers on a variety of clinical topics, with lessons that can be applied in both rural and urban care settings. Dates: October 21, 2023 and October 19, 2024.
Conference recordings are available to view, and to claim continuing nursing education credits, up to 11 months after the event.
Trunkey Center Seminar Series
OHSU’s Donald D. Trunkey Center for Civilian and Combat Casualty Care focuses on advancing trauma research and innovation to improve care throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its monthly seminar series brings together researchers working across trauma-related disciplines, highlights the latest research in the field and serves as a catalyst for new collaborations.
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) annual meeting
This international gathering held in September or October brings together physicians and scientists whose primary interest lies in the investigation and the treatment of trauma and the application of surgical critical care.
Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) Annual Scientific Assembly
EAST’s premier event provides a forum for trauma providers to exchange knowledge that advances the care and rehabilitation of the injured patient. Held in January,
The assembly includes scientific sessions, educational sessions, workshops and networking opportunities.
Emergency Nurses Association conference
Held in late September and early October, this event offers continuing education opportunities for emergency nurses at all stages in their careers. The conference includes hands-on trainings, ultrasound and cadaver labs, educational presentations and networking events.
Mattox Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Conference
Held in Las Vegas in late March, the long-running Mattox conference includes two programs for providers who care for critically ill and injured patients. Both can be attended virtually.
The Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery program offers comprehensive continuing education, stressing current basic and leading-edge guidelines and technology for evaluation, diagnosis, and management. The course is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of those caring for ill and injured patients in rural, urban, and suburban hospitals.
The Medical Disaster Response course focuses on care for multiple patients following a mass casualty or disaster. Every physician, nurse and administrator working in a hospital has the potential to be called upon, without notice, to receive the victims of a catastrophic event. This course is for clinical personnel who work to save patients’ lives and limbs, often with limited space and workers, while also trying to quickly determine how to manage more patients than the facility can process.
Trauma Center Association of America (TCAA) conference
Held in late April and early May, TCAA's Annual Trauma Conference prepares participants to address the issues confronting trauma centers and trauma systems, now and in the future. Along with the two-day annual meeting, hospital and trauma system administrators can take advantage of pre-conference courses on topics such as system development, finance, reimbursement, advocacy, performance improvement and leadership development.
Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) conference
TraumaCon, STN’s annual event held in late March and early April, is for nurses involved in the care of trauma patients and the management of trauma programs and trauma systems. Sessions include clinical topics designed to meet the needs of trauma professionals in a variety of work settings as well as research insights and professional development opportunities for trauma practice managers.
Western Trauma Association Annual Meeting
Held in late February, the WTA conference highlights research, education and the sharing of clinical experiences to support the development of physicians of all specialties who are involved in the care of trauma patients. The association is committed not only to the intellectual growth of its members, but also the emotional growth developed through camaraderie in an environment conducive to winter sports. To further this goal, the conference is generally held at a Western ski resort.
Contact us: Transfer Center
OHSU’s transfer team is available 24/7.
Initiate a patient transfer with one call:
• 800-648-6478 (toll-free)
• 503-494-7000
Contact us: Trauma Education
OHSU’s trauma team can help you find continuing education resources that are right for you, or tailor our courses to the needs of your trauma care setting.
Reach out to traumaeducation@ohsu.edu to learn more.
Contact us: Trauma Center
Our trauma team is happy to share its expertise with providers throughout the state.
Send your follow-up care questions to traumafollowup@ohsu.edu.
Contact us: EpicCare Link
Access patient information in real time, 24/7 through OHSU’s secure online portal.
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