Minutes matter when responding to a traumatic injury. But there wasn’t an emergency department between Fairfax, Virginia and Washington, DC dedicated to treating trauma patients — until now.

To bring this critical emergency care to our community, Virginia Hospital Center’s Emergency Department was recently designated as a Level II Trauma Center.

“Because of the fundraising efforts of our Foundation,” says Taryn Overman, Associate Vice President Emergency and Outpatient Services, “the Hospital was able to purchase the equipment and supplies required for the Level II trauma designation.”

The $300,000 raised were essential in funding the acquisition of advanced monitoring units, specialized pumps and operative instrumentation for procedures performed for severely injured patients. Additionally, trauma bays were redesigned to offer more space for multiple physicians and their needs.

With the designation, every nurse at the Hospital has now received trauma-specific training. The Foundation is also proud to support trauma nurses with opportunities to improve their life-saving knowledge and skills via scholarships, individualized attention from an experienced nurse, on-site lectures and continuing education workshops.

Our Emergency Department will now be able to care for over 1,000 trauma patients a year. That means 1,000 more patients who don’t have to put their life and recovery at risk by traveling greater distances to other hospitals.

When every minute matters, this can make a lifesaving difference.