Clinical Overview
The 18 faculty members on the service work collaboratively to provide best-practice standards of care, helping all patients who require treatment for their traumatic or emergent surgical needs. Maintaining a core value of putting patients first and creating an environment where teamwork, integrity and compassion are paramount to clinical care, the Grady ACS faculty is fully dedicated to providing the highest quality of service to all its patients.
Grady’s Marcus Trauma Center (MTC) itself serves as Atlanta’s only Level 1 American College of Surgeons-verified trauma center and is staffed by the ACS service 24/7/365. With upwards of 13-14,000 trauma activations per year, translating into ~9000 admissions annually, the trauma volumes at Grady make it one of the busiest trauma centers in the country. Delivering total care related to every aspect of a patient’s injury complex or medical needs, the ACS Service at Grady helps to educate myriad fellow, resident, and advanced practice providers to help them on their path of becoming the next generation of dedicated trauma caregivers. Furthermore, the ACS Service works with a multitude of ancillary specialties to ensure the best care is being offered to achieve optimal outcomes – including but not limited to round-the-clock access to crucial Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic, and Radiology services. The staffing composition of the faculty allows for important continuity of care for all patients, from their admission through the MTC, their progression through emergent and life-saving operations and interventions, their recovery in the ICU and the wards, and their subsequent discharge from the hospital.
In additions to providing model clinical services, the ACS Service at Grady serves as a valuable referral resource for surrounding community and healthcare entities who have patients requiring transfer to a higher level of care. Outreach programs including bleeding, violence, and substance abuse prevention initiatives are thoroughly incorporated into the daily operations of the service, allowing a more holistic approach to providing true trauma-informed care. Ongoing quality initiative projects including outcomes assessments and research development ventures put Grady and the ACS service at the forefront of advancing the field of trauma medicine. A partnership with the US Army has further enriched the educational experience on the trauma service and has allowed the program to contribute meaningfully to military readiness. The fully comprehensive and all-inclusive approach to helping patients heal both in immediate and long-term ways from their injuries and surgical illnesses is a defining feature of the ACS faculty, allowing for the effective and dedicated treatment of all patients who come to Grady.
For the most detailed and comprehensive clinical information on the center, please visit Grady's Marcus Trauma Center website.
Training
Grady is also an internationally recognized teaching hospital and Atlanta’s only ACS verified level I adult trauma center. In addition to supervising the Emory general surgery, emergency medicine, and other subspecialty surgery residents that rotate on the trauma service, Emory's Grady-based trauma surgeons manage a highly respected acute care surgery/surgical critical care fellowship. The program is available to board-eligible surgeons, and involves one year in an ACGME-approved surgical critical care fellowship, folllowed by another year in a AAST-accredited acute care surgery fellowship.