Chandler Regional Medical Center benefits from March development

  • 2014-04-11
March 24 was an important date for residents of Chandler and the Southeast Valley, as it was the day the Level 1 Trauma Center went into operation at the Chandler Regional Medical Center.

Criticially injured patients have a limited time—the “golden hour”—to get treatment if they’re to survive. In 2012 in Maricopa County, only 42% of those injured were able to get help within this critical timeframe. In Pinal County, only a tenth of patients were within that limit.

Now, with the new center open, patients from throughout the area will get the care they need. First responders will continue to evaluate victims of injuries, then transport them to the closest Level 1 trauma center. Chandler now has the capability of handling these patients.

Arizona officials have designated Chandler Regional as a provisional Level 1 trauma center. This means it meets the criteria established by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for a Level 1 facility, and the ACS will verify and assess its performance after the first 18 months, as well as examine 12 months of data on trauma patients. Chandler has critical care surgeons available 24 hours per day, and they have the resources of the center’s emergency room for urgent surgery.

Chandler’s management could work with brochure printers to create a mailer for area residents informing them of the center’s opening and the services it offers.