Emergency Department/Level I Trauma Center at Rockford Health System

Our Role as the Lead Hospital in a Disaster

Rockford Memorial Hospital is designated by the Illinois Department of Public Health as the Disaster POD hospital for the northern Illinois EMS region. In that role, the hospital, which is a Level 1 Trauma Center, serves as the designated resource hospital for regional disaster planning and response; maintains an established disaster plan; provides staff members trained in various emergency response services; maintains an established two-way communication system to participating and associate hospitals and coordinates regional disaster drills.

In addition to these responsibilities, Rockford Memorial Hospital also serves as the primary point of contact for communication and coordination of disaster response activities with its resource, associate and participating hospitals and EMS providers.

Emergency Department/Level I Trauma Center

The Rockford Health System Emergency Department/Level I Trauma Center treats nearly 47,000 patients annually and includes a variety of critically ill and injured patients. The Emergency Department is staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians and critical care nurses certified in critical care and trauma. The Emergency Department includes state-of-the-art cardiac, trauma and medical treatment rooms, triage areas, cast and splint areas, and patient diagnostics / treatment areas such as X-ray, decontamination and isolation rooms. The Emergency Department has also been designated by the state of Illinois as a Pediatric Critical Care Center (PCCC), with special staff and equipment to help treat ill and injured children.

Rockford Health System's Level I Trauma Center is ready to respond to any adult or pediatric trauma situation. Trauma services are covered 24 hours a day by a trauma team that consists of a trauma surgeon, trauma surgery anesthesiologist, ICU anesthesiologist, CT scan technologist, and a special trauma operating room team. Specialty on-call physicians include neurologists, neurosurgeons, cardiologists and other specialists ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

In addition, Rockford Memorial Hospital's Chest Pain Center is accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers (becoming the sixth accredited Chest Pain Center in Illinois and the 188th in the nation)