Trauma Centre Certification

The function of a Trauma Center is to improve coordination in the care of severe trauma patients in close collaboration with the different medical and paramedical specialties involved in this care. The setting up of a Trauma Center is a truly multidisciplinary process since it involves more than ten medical, medico-technical and administrative services.
The German certification body Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie (DGU) was chosen for this certification. There are three different levels: supra-regional, regional and local. After an audit of our hospital sites, the organisation awarded us certification at regional level for the St-Elisabeth site in Uccle and certification at local level for the St-Michel site in Etterbeek.
As Dr Alessandro Manara, head of the Emergency Department at the St Elisabeth site, points out, "although the human and technical resources for the management of severe trauma patients were already in place, the certification process has made it possible to structure and standardise the management of trauma patients and to use resources in accordance with international standards. Thanks to this certification, the Europe Hospital's have joined the Life Trauma Network, a Brussels network of which the Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc is the supra-regional centre.