Trauma

UMC Trauma Services
1501 N Campbell Ave
Tucson, AZ 85724
(520) 694-6144

UMC is Southern Arizona's only Level 1 trauma system and one of the most-highly rated trauma programs in the country. It ranks number one among university trauma centers in the nation in several key outcomes, such as patient survival, low cost and shorter lengths of stay.

The trauma program at University Medical Center has a trauma surgeon immediately available 24 hours a day. The trauma program cares for approximately 4,800 patients a year, of which 1,700 are seriously injured. These patients come from Tucson, Southern Arizona, western New Mexico and northern Mexico.

Trauma means serious injury and includes such injuries as bone fractures, internal bleeding and brain injuries. Trauma is most frequently due to car crashes, falls and violence.

A trauma center is a highly-organized hospital program for the immediate treatment of the seriously injured. The program's organization recognizes that the greatest enemy of a person who is seriously-injured is time. The trauma team remains poised for immediate response 24 hours a day, every day. The team is led by a trauma surgeon and includes additional surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, trauma nurses and therapists. This expert team is activated about eight times a day.

In addition to the trauma team, the trauma center at UMC includes:

• Telemedicine
• Special trauma resuscitation units within the Emergency Department
• Fully-staffed operating rooms immediately available
• Surgical intensive care unit
• Wide range of on-call specialists (more than a dozen specialty physicians, including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, pediatric intensivists, etc.)
• Priority status for lab work and x-rays 
• Injury prevention programs
• Professional education for EMTs, paramedics, nurses and physicians