Services

The center provides resuscitation, emergency surgical intervention, diagnostic and medical treatment, and intensive care to South Florida's trauma victims. The center also features extensive research and education facilities, administrative and ancillary support space.

From resuscitation to rehabilitation, the Ryder Trauma Center provides a comprehensive continuum of care to the entire south Florida community. The specialized training, experience, and skills of the center’s surgeons, physicians and staff are responsible for saving lives and hastening patient recoveries at every stage of the process.

Resuscitation
At the center, patients arriving by ambulance are rushed to one of five specially designed resuscitation rooms. Patients who arrive by helicopter on the center’s rooftop landing pad are carried by high-speed elevators to a resuscitation room in just 15 seconds.

Rapid assessment of injuries is a critical factor in successful treatment of trauma patients. Because the Ryder Trauma Center is designed for life-saving emergency treatment, lab facilities and radiology equipment are located near the resuscitation rooms. Blood tests, x-rays, ultrasound, scanning equipment and other diagnostic tools provide information rapidly to the trauma team, as a sophisticated computer system begins tracking the patient’s medical records.

If the patient’s head or spine appears to be injured, the trauma team conducts a diagnostic scan to determine whether surgical treatment or medication is the best approach. In many cases, their in-depth knowledge of brain injuries holds the key to successful treatment. The trauma team also uses advanced techniques to monitor how much oxygen the brain is receiving and to indicate the health of this vital organ.

While the patient’s injuries are diagnosed, the center’s anesthesiologists are providing pain relief and checking the airway for breathing obstructions or penetration wounds. Trauma nurses and physicians administer blood or other fluids and prepare the patient for surgery.

During the resuscitation phase, social workers at the center may be called upon to help identify an unknown patient or locate family members – especially if a child is injured. Pastoral care, crisis and bereavement counseling are available 24 hours a day to patients, families and friends. If the patient belongs to a church or synagogue, the appropriate member of the clergy is contacted. The hospital’s pastoral team also offers spiritual care and counseling in keeping with a family’s values and cultural background.

Operating Suites
The Ryder Trauma Center’s six operating suites are designed for multiple operating teams and equipment. A team of surgeons can repair damaged blood vessels in a chest while a neurosurgery team works on a head injury, and an orthopaedic team re-sets a broken arm or leg. This multiple-team approach provides faster recovery times and promotes better outcome for patients.

Because low temperatures can be dangerous to trauma patients who have lost a significant amount of blood, the operating suites are equipped with special warm-air vents, warming blankets and rapid infusion devices that provide warm fluids – as much as the patient needs.

A typical trauma patient is in surgery for three hours, although extensive injuries may cause a patient to be in the operating room for 24 hours. Virtually all types of surgery can be performed in the suites, including laparoscopic and thorascopic techniques. For patients who prefer not to receive blood, alternative care can be provided through Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery.

Because children tend to recover more quickly from injuries than adults, the Ryder team – which includes pediatric surgeons and pediatric intensive care specialists – usually takes a conservative approach, operating only when necessary. Head injuries are the most frequent cause of death in pediatric trauma cases, so pediatric neurosurgeons and neurologists play an active role in treating these cases.

The center’s trauma anesthesiologists are another integral part of the operating team. Since a patient who has lost a large amount of blood cannot be given the same dosage of drugs as a “normal” patient, the extra training and experience of the center’s anesthesiologists contributes to the team’s positive results.

Intensive Care
After surgery, most patients stay in the center’s 25-bed, second-floor Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU), where their conditions can be monitored and treatment administered in a carefully controlled environment.

Two of the biggest concerns for trauma patients are infection control and nutrition. The center’s physicians and staff have developed post-surgical procedures that improve outcomes in both areas. For example, the types of common bacteria in the facility are monitored and cultured on a regular basis so that if an infection occurs, the proper combination of antibiotics can be provided immediately – rather than having to wait 24 to 48 hours for a new culture from the patient.

Serious wound care issues are addressed by the center’s nurses and the occupational and physical therapists at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Because of the wide range and severity of injuries, the center’s nurses are experts in wound care and have access to the latest types of dressings, topical antibiotics and medications that promote wound healing.

Trauma patients typically need 50 percent more calories and twice as much protein as a healthy person to rebuild their damaged bones and tissues. However, an injury to the throat, stomach, intestines or bowel may prevent normal feeding. These patients benefit from the center’s dedicated nutrition and metabolic support service team, which includes a medical director, nurse specialists, dietitians and a pharmacist.

Throughout the hospital stay, the social work team plans for discharge and helps the patient and family adjust to any lifestyle changes. As discharge approaches, the social worker coordinates ongoing care from community agencies, home health care and medical equipment needs as well as living situations and financial concerns. For patients who live outside south Florida, the social work team even makes travel arrangements for the return home.

Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation services at the center are focused in three areas: brain injuries, orthopaedic and spinal cord injuries, and pediatric injuries (age 16 and under). Other types of rehabilitation therapy are provided through various Jackson Memorial Hospital programs and in the hospital’s free-standing rehabilitation center.

While rehabilitation generally begins as soon as the patient is stabilized, therapists may be called upon to evaluate a patient at an even earlier stage. Early intervention helps patients regain the maximum level of function as quickly as possible.

The center’s therapists assess the patient’s motor functions, ability to perform activities of daily living, communication skills and cognitive skills, such as memory and reasoning. Together with the center’s social workers, the therapists also evaluate the patient’s family resource, home, and work environments.

Physical and occupational therapists help patients regain control of their muscles, while speech pathologists and respiratory therapists focus on speech, breathing and swallowing. Vocational and recreational therapists look at lifestyle and job-related skills. Learning to feed oneself, take a bath, get dressed or prepare a meal are major victories for some patients. Others must face issues relating to driving, going back to school or work, or interacting with others in a new way. A trauma patient who has suffered the loss of a hand, foot, arm or leg can also benefit from Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Orthotics/Prosthetics Laboratory, which fabricates or fits custom-made limbs and braces on the premises.

The Center’s three-bed, fourth-floor neurological rehabilitation program helps brain-injured patients regain as many of their skills as possible so they can resume an independent life. Adult patients typically stay in the inpatient program for 30 to 45 days and a day treatment program is also available.

Outpatient Care
To provide ongoing care to trauma patients, daily outpatient clinics are held at the Ryder Trauma Center. These clinics provide continuity of care and allow the patient and family to return to a familiar setting for outpatient treatment, which may include post-discharge wound care, medications or other medical or rehabilitative services.

Preventing Trauma
Since trauma is preventable, educating children, teenagers and adults about the need for safety is an ongoing concern for the Ryder Trauma Center team. From "buckle up" seat belt campaigns to Learn Not to Burn programs to gun safety sessions, the Trauma Prevention Team takes a proactive approach to preventing trauma and injury. Staff members also are leaders in many community organizations, such as the Miami-Dade County Injury Prevention Coalition and the Florida Injury Prevention and Control Advisory Council.

To encourage safety among elementary-age children, entire classrooms come to the Ryder Trauma Center to learn about trauma prevention and participate in role-playing scenarios. More than 1,000 students annually have a chance to meet Sammy the Safety Bear and learn about the importance of protecting their heads from injury. They also receive plastic identification tags with their name and their school's name to facilitate contacting a family member in the event of an injury.

A playground and bicycle safety video features Traumaroo, a cartoon kangaroo created by the American Trauma Society. Designed for pre-schoolers to third graders, the Traumaroo program is aimed at reducing the annual total of 200,000 playground injuries that require hospitalization.

As part of the ongoing Stop the Violence school program, the trauma staff and the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office developed a poster depicting a bullet ripping through a handful of crayons with the slogan, "Bang. Bang. Color Me Dead." More than 4,000 copies of the poster have been distributed to children, teenagers and parents.

Automobile safety is the focus of E.N.C.A.R.E. (Emergency Nurses Cancel Alcohol Related Episodes), a designated driver education program, and Buckle Bear, a national campaign that encourages students and their parents to fasten their seat belts whenever they get in the car.

Think First Miami is part of a national brain and spinal cord injury prevention program aimed at high school students using "peer messengers," spinal cord-injured patients who described their lives since their injuries. Think First Miami is presented to approximately 15,000 tenth graders annually, and to several thousand other adults and children at community events.
WalkSafe Program
The WalkSafe Program, was developed and implemented by the Ryder Trauma Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Medical Center and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Trauma Research Institute at the Ryder Trauma Center. For more information on the WalkSafe Program, click here.

William Lehman Injury Research Center
Reducing injuries from motor vehicle crashes and other types of accidents is the primary goal of the William Lehman Injury Research Center at the Ryder Trauma Center. In addition, crash researchers at the center include some of the leading educators of child car seat safety in the community.

University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn Center
The University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn Center at the Ryder Trauma Center is one of the leading burn treatment facilities in the nation and the only such center in south Florida. Since its founding in the 1960s, the burn center has been a focal point of treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up care for thousands of children, teenagers and adults.