Our work

OHSU is a Level I trauma center. This designation requires the OHSU Trauma Service to provide expert care to the most seriously injured patients in the state, instruct future generations of trauma surgeons, and conduct research into improving and advancing the treatment of trauma patients.

Learn about the OHSU Trauma Center

Along with their extremely capable colleagues in Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery, OHSU's trauma surgeons treat more than 2600 trauma patients each year; many of them seriously injured, and hundreds of them transferred from the state's Level II, III and IV trauma centers via Life Flight helicopter or ground ambulance. As a result, several studies conducted by the Rural Trauma Study Group - led by Dr. Richard Mullins and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - have found that the odds of death for injured Oregonians have declined significantly, especially among brain-injured patients.

OHSU is also an academic center dedicated to the education of future health care professionals, and the Trauma Service proudly follows in this tradition of teaching. Every two months, two chief residents from the General Surgery service are appointed to the Trauma Service where they learn the techniques of trauma surgery, present complex cases at Trauma Conference every week and continue to treat discharged patients in the Trauma Clinic.

The Trauma Service also sponsors four surgical critical care fellows each year who conduct research, act as consultants to various services and spend some time in out-of-state programs to discover different perspectives concerning the care of trauma patients. These fellows have consistently become trauma and surgical critical care leaders around the nation. The Trauma Service staff works closely with each student, resident and fellow in order to instill a solid understanding of the principles of trauma care in future surgeons.

The OHSU Trauma Service houses the Trauma Research Institute of Oregon (TRIO). This is a pioneering research organization that focuses on critical topics relative to improving the care of trauma patients not just at OHSU but around the world. TRIO researchers are leaders in resuscitation, hemorrhage control, novel blood product, rib fracture and outcomes research. They have received support from the NIH, CDC, Department of Defense, private industry and local sources to perform this research.

For the last two decades, the OHSU Trauma Service has served Oregon as a center of excellence for the care of seriously injured patients, a university committed to teaching future trauma surgeons and an institute focused on paving the way to the future. The Trauma Service continues to serve as an exemplary Level I trauma center and is determined to carry out this role for decades to come.