Authorizing the joint City Council Committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings investigating the mapping out of trauma centers across the city and how they are selected when transporting shooting victims.

Authorizing the joint City Council Committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings investigating the mapping out of trauma centers across the city and how they are selected when transporting shooting victims. WHEREAS, In Philadelphia, a trauma patient, meaning someone who has sustained a life-threatening bodily injury, such as a gunshot wound, is transported to a hospital that is designated as a trauma center; and WHEREAS, Trauma centers have the staff, services, and equipment needed to care for those with life-threatening bodily injuries and are staffed by trauma teams 24 hours a day, including surgeons and neurosurgeons; and WHEREAS, The organization responsible for accrediting trauma centers is the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation. The Foundation has categorized trauma centers into four levels; and WHEREAS, Level I trauma centers are authorized to treat those most in need of critical emergency care. They require trauma research, a surgical residency program and an annual 600 major trauma patients per year; and WHEREAS, In Philadelphia, Level I trauma centers include: Einstein Medical Center, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Temple University Hospital, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; and WHEREAS, The adequate mapping out of trauma center locations when responding to a trauma patient has an impact on whether the patient receives treatment earlie…