St. Cloud Hospital’s Emergency Trauma Center is the region’s most comprehensive facility of its kind. It is staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians and specially trained nurses who are certified in trauma care and advanced life support. The Trauma Center also has access to medical staff support from all essential specialties.

The Center has 38 private patient rooms, including rooms dedicated to the special needs of children, trauma victims and psychiatric patients. The Center, which serves 13 counties in Central Minnesota, also offers an FAA-approved helipad, which is serviced by Life Link III air ambulance.

In the past year, St. Cloud Hospital admitted 1,500 trauma patients, 36 percent of whom were transferred from another facility. Of severe trauma patients, 29 percent were transported by helicopter and 59 percent by ground ambulance. Overall emergency room visits in St. Cloud last year totaled 55,436.

A committee of the American College of Surgeons designates entire hospitals – not just emergency rooms – as trauma centers. Hospitals must meet rigorous standards in order to be certified.

To be certified as Level II, St. Cloud Hospital had to meet several criteria, including:

• Being the lead trauma facility in the service area, with outreach programs that incorporate smaller hospitals;
• Having an emergency room that is staffed 24/7;
• Having trauma surgeons available within 15 minutes of patient arrival.