Harborview Medical Center provides trauma care to adults and children, and serves as the Washington’s only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center. As the only such facility in a four-state region (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), Harborview's Emergency Department sees more than 80,000 patients each year, many of these patients suffering serious trauma.
PEM fellows work exclusively in the emergency department as part of a coordinated trauma team composed of attending trauma surgeon, trauma fellow, and surgical residents in their first and second years. Fellows act in the role of a first year surgical resident and are responsible for evaluating and treating trauma patients, as well as patients with primary surgical complaints. In their third year they may transition to a supervisor role in trauma care.
The experience allows for the development of proficiency in assessment and stabilization based on Advanced Trauma Life Support algorithms, and performing common procedures such as peripheral and central access, complex laceration repair, and thoracotomy tube placement.