Level I Trauma Center
St. Anthony Hospital is designated as a Level I Trauma Center by the State of Colorado Department of Health. A Level I designation is the highest level of definitive and comprehensive emergency and trauma care for patients with complex injuries. For the most severely ill and injured patients, rapid access to coordinated, multidisciplinary, tertiary levels of care is crucial.
Our Services
Immediate access to the highest level of care
St. Anthony Hospital is recognized internationally as an innovative leader in trauma system development, emergency transport, intensivist teamwork, sub-specialty intensive care unit operation and physician-through-paramedic education. Its service to Colorado, the Rocky Mountain region and the world now spans nearly four decades, confirming its place among the nation's first sites for shock trauma care.
We provide access to an integrated network of highly trained specialists in trauma surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, radiology and emergency medicine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Trauma Care Specialists
As a Level I Shock Trauma Center, St. Anthony Hospital has a full team of attending trauma specialists onsite 24 hours a day.
They include highly experienced:
- Emergency Physicians
- Trauma Surgeons
- Anesthesiologists
- Radiologists
- CT Techs
- Specially Certified Trauma Nurses
- Traumatology orthopedists specifically trained in the management of severe orthopedic trauma
- Neurosurgeons are on site or on call at all times.
Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology
Shock trauma patients at St. Anthony Hospital benefit from 24/7 access to angiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine. Interventional Radiologists are on on-site or on-call at all times.
Intensive Care Units
There are 76 private ICU rooms at St. Anthony Hospital with 14 surgical suites including the dedicated T-10 OR. Each unit is staffed by nurses specifically skilled in that shock trauma care specialty.
Neurosurgeons
Experienced neurosurgeons and highly skilled nurses at this dedicated center bring their expertise to the management of all spine- and neck-related conditions. Issues addressed include spine trauma or fractures; degenerative spine diseases; herniated discs (cervical, thoracic, lumbar); spine tumors; spinal stenosis and instability.
Collaboration and communication
Shock trauma patients at St. Anthony Hospital benefit from a total team approach to care, a fine-tuned operational system and a spirit of collegiality rare among intensive care providers. The result is more rapid intervention, heightened efficiency and the highest quality outcomes. Family members are encouraged to be present for daily rounds as specialists and staff discuss the patient's condition and care.
T-10 Dedicated Trauma OR
Colorado's first and only dedicated trauma OR.
Trauma Room 10 or T-10, is a dedicated field-to-surgery suite that stands ready 24/7 for trauma surgeons and specially trained shock trauma teams to provide lifesaving care to the most severely ill and injured patients.
T-10 was first opened at St. Anthony Central Hospital in 1977, and now will bring an even higher level of technology and care to the new St. Anthony Hospital Level I Shock Trauma Center. T-10 is accessible by a dedicated high-speed elevator, making it possible to speed a patient and entire trauma team from the Emergency Department or helipad entrance in only three seconds.
Features of T-10 include a ceiling-boom design that integrates imaging and instrumentation, which can be moved around the OR and frees space for the surgical team. A dumb-waiter for blood delivery and a specialized pneumatic tube system enable blood and pharmaceuticals to be delivered to trauma teams even more quickly, plus CT imaging and interventional radiology equipment is immediately across the hall.
T-10 is an integral part of the nationally strong trauma outcomes at St. Anthony Hospital.
Traumatic Brain Injury Team
St. Anthony Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and provides the highest level of care for Colorado Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients.
This designation is critical for TBI patients requiring brain surgery as a result of brain injury and trauma. The Level I designation assures that trauma surgeons, critical care physicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, CT techs and technological resources are ready at all times to provide critical, life saving care for brain injury patients.
Neurosurgeons are on-call and available 24 hours-a-day and our specialized trauma team works closely with EMS responders, communicating about the incoming TBI patient so staff and resources are ready as soon as the patient arrives.
Our Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Team of Nurses work on a one to one basis with families, doctors and TBI patients. These brain injury patients are the sickest of the sick, and these nurses manage their care wonderfully, going everywhere the TBI patient goes.
St. Anthony Hospital's T-10, Colorado's first dedicated trauma-operating suite, enables seriously injured patients to go directly to surgery upon their arrival with EMS. This gives us the ability to address traumatic brain injuries immediately, giving us valuable lifesaving minutes that make all the difference when it comes to brain trauma.
The specially trained nurses who care for traumatic brain injury patients at St. Anthony Hospital consist of a group of individuals who were selected to be on the Brain Injury Team. The members of this team have received extensive education and training regarding the protocol guided care and new technology relating to traumatic brain injuries. There are a total of 30 day/night Registered Nurse Brain Injury Team Members at St. Anthony Hospital.
The patients in the Trauma/Neuro Intensive Care Units at St. Anthony Hospital with severe traumatic brain injury have direct brain tissue oxygenation monitoring, along with intracranial pressure monitoring (ICP). The goal of therapy is to ensure adequate brain oxygen levels while maintaining normal ICP parameters.
In addition, the Neuroscience Program Coordinator tracks the patients we take care of on a yearly basis. Each year on average, 32-40 patients have benefited from this protocol guided approach to caring for patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
Trauma Survivors Network
Trauma changes lives in ways patients and families rarely anticipate. The Trauma Survivors Network (TSN) helps them rebuild confidence and capability. St. Anthony Hospital is proud to be a part of this special network formed by trauma survivors and their caregivers—people who know, first hand, the challenges involved.
