COVID-19: American College of Surgeons issues statement on maintaining the emergency care system

CHICAGO: As hospitals around the U.S. are faced with a surge of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, the ability for trauma centers to care for injured patients is severely compromised. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently issued a statement calling for strategies to preserve capacity and capability to care for injured patients. The statement includes seven recommendations for hospital and health care system leaders to consider.

One of the recommendations is to develop a regional medical operations center (RMOC) to coordinate the distribution of COVID-19 patients across area hospitals. The ACS released a document specifically on this topic, “How to Set Up a Regional Medical Operations Center to Manage the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which covers essential information such as the role of the RMOC, the decision makers who need to be present, and the steps to take to set up the RMOC.

The ACS Statement on the Importance of Maintaining the Emergency Care System during the COVID-19 Pandemic is available on the ACS website.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Contact

• Email: pressinquiry@facs.org