Trauma Center
Who we are
The doors of Children’s Hospital Boston are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to treat your injured child. Our patients range from very young children to adolescents and young adults. Some 50,000 young people come through the Children's Emergency Department each year—with traumas ranging from bone fractures to burns to abdominal or chest injuries.
About 20 percent of the cases our doctors see are injury-related, from minor to severe. Since the day Boston Children's Hospital opened its doors in 1869—when the first patient was treated for a broken wrist—treating childhood injuries has remained a core part of our hospital's care.
Our expertise
Children's is one of only a few hospitals in the United States to earn a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center verification from the American College of surgeons—indicating that we provide the highest level of pediatric injury care. We rank among the top 10 hospitals in the nation for the volume of injured children treated. Each year, we care for twice as many injured kids as all other Boston hospitals combined!
Our Critical Care Transport Team is the only CAMTS-certified team in New England—and our Critical Care Transport Ambulance is known as an "ICU on wheels."
Children's pediatric trauma research
Children's is actively involved in conducting research into the causes and best treatments for childhood injury. Currently, we are:
- examining how best to care for children with a ruptured spleen
- collaborating with other hospitals to determine the long-term problems children face after suffering a broken pelvis
- identifying children and families who are at risk for developing emotional problems or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) after injury
- identifying which blood tests and x-rays are necessary during emergency care to ensure patient safety and maximize emergency department efficiency
Effective care for injuries to the spleen
Children's is one of the most efficient and effective providers of care for splenic injuries among United States pediatric hospitals.
Visit The Safety Store in our lobby
As a major component of our goal of preventing traumatic injuries, Children's offers many safety products, educational materials and resource referrals at The Safety Store in the hospital's lobby, including:
- electrical outlet covers
- stove locks and covers
- appliance and entertainment locks and covers
- bath safety products
- car safety products
- choking prevention products
- educational materials on injury prevention for children with special needs
- referrals to the ThinkFirst and Car Seat Safety programs
Screening for injury prevention needs
At Children's, we screen all inpatient admissions for injury prevention needs. We provide injury prevention education and equipment to meet those needs—free, if necessary.
