Departments - JPNATC

DEPT. OF TRAUMA ANESTHESIA AND CRITICAL CARE, JPNATC

Our motto: Save Lives and relieve Pain in present and future: Each life is precious!

The mission of the Department of Trauma Anesthesia and Critical care is resuscitation, perioperative care, pain management, and critical care of every patient at the JPNATC; the training of paramedics, nurses, medical students, residents and fellows; and research of new and better ways of improving outcome of trauma patients.

Our department consist of 9 faculties and 30 residents. It consists of team of experts taking care of critically ill and injured patients. Available 24 hours a day, they manage patients in the OR, two ICUs, CT/MRI along with pain services.

Our faculty has immediate access to a wide array of sophisticated airway, monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. We also train and supervise the residents for the Acute Pain Management Service, providing advanced pain management modalities for more than 8000 patients each year.

All the procedures in the operation theatre, ICU and block area occur under the supervision of the faculty. An on-call faculty is available 24 hours a day for supervising comprehensive perioperative care in the OR, ICU and PACU.

Research endeavors of the Section of Trauma Anesthesiology include studies of airway management techniques and protocols, anesthetic drug selection, advanced resuscitation techniques for patients in hemorrhagic shock, early noninvasive monitoring of hemodynamic status, and non-surgical approaches to hemostasis. In the intensive care units, members of the Section have recently presented and published work on advanced ventilator management, continuous renal replacement therapy, and quality improvement indicators in Trauma settings. The faculties are the acknowledged national experts on anesthesia for trauma care, are sought out for textbook chapters in the Anesthesia, pain, and Critical Care, and serve as invited speakers at local, national, and international conferences on a regular basis.

Training and Academics

Our department is actively involved in the field of education in various aspects of Trauma Anesthesia and critical care to resident doctors through regular seminars, journal club and case presentation. Along with formal education strategies, residents are also taught at the bed side in the ICU while taking daily rounds and in the OR while doing procedures. The residents are rotated at different centers and block of the institute for their comprehensive training in trauma Anesthesia and critical care. We routinely conduct in-house cadaveric ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia workshop to enhance the skills of Anaesthesia residents.

Patient care areas

Operation theatre

Trauma anesthesia focuses on providing anesthesia to patients undergoing complex surgical procedures due to traumatic injuries. These can range from blunt trauma, like road traffic accidents, to penetrating injuries, such as gunshot wounds. The goals of trauma anesthesia are to ensure the patient is pain-free, and physiologically stable during surgery.

Intensive care unit

Trauma Anaesthesia and Critical care team deals with critically injured patients in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) who require intensive monitoring and support. Both the ICUs are equipped with the most advanced equipment for diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. AI based Ultrasound machine, Viscoelastic hemostatic assay machine, cough assist device, high-end ventilators, video laryngoscope, fiberoptic bronchoscope, etc are available in both the ICUs.

Acute pain services

Acute Pain Service (APS) is being provided to trauma patients, in the form of ultrasound guided nerve blocks, perineural continuous infusion, epidural infusion as part of multimodal pain management. A dedicated team follows up all these patients. This specialized service is critical in addressing the immediate and intense pain that often accompanies trauma and aims to improve patient outcomes through effective and compassionate pain management.

Radiology

Our department provides round the clock support to radiology department for imaging and intervention like angioembolization for control of bleeding in the trauma patients which helps the clinical team to plan intervention and improve patient outcome.

Pre anesthesia checkup clinic

A Preanesthesia Checkup Clinic for trauma patients is a specialized service designed to assess and prepare individuals who need anesthesia for surgical procedures due to traumatic injuries. This clinic plays a critical role in ensuring patient safety and optimizing outcomes by thoroughly evaluating the patient’s medical status and preparing them for anesthesia.

Pain clinic

The Pain Clinic for trauma patients is a specialized facility designed to address and manage the acute and chronic pain that often accompanies traumatic injuries. This clinic focuses on improving the quality of life for trauma patients by providing comprehensive pain management strategies tailored to their specific needs.

Code Blue

Trauma Anaesthesia and Critical care team has taken the initiative of providing ‘Code Blue’ training to all staff members at Trauma Center. More than 1000 staff members have undergone ‘Code Blue’ training, including the Security personnel.

Patient-Centered Care

In addition to clinical management, the department emphasizes compassionate care, supporting patients and their families through the often stressful and traumatic experiences of severe illness or injury. This includes:

Family Communication: Keeping families informed and involved in decision-making.

Psychosocial Support: Addressing the psychological impact of trauma and critical illness on patients and their families.

Achievements

Conducted 9 national level ultrasound (cadaver + volunteer) guided regional anaesthesia workshops and 3 in-house (for residents in trauma center) ultrasound-guided cadaveric regional Anaesthesia workshops in the past 5 years.

Conducted training sessions on basic trauma care for doctors from Border Roads Organization (BRO)

Conducted training sessions and workshops for nursing officers from peripheral AIIMS like AIIMS Jammu.

Developed a Module “Focused Intensive Training in Trauma” (FITT) for nurses and trained around 100 nurses in fundamentals of Critical Care.

The faculty have been actively involved in conducting and publishing high-quality research.

Multiple funded (both intramural & extramural) and non-funded research projects are ongoing in the department.

More than 200 articles published in high impact journals over the last 5 years

Future Vision

DM Trauma Anaesthesia & Critical Care program is in process of starting soon.
To have a 1-year fellowship program in Trauma Anaesthesia & Pain Medicine and Trauma critical care.
To collaborate with various trauma centers worldwide for research and clinical rotations.
To launch a high impact journal pertaining to trauma anaesthesia, resuscitation and critical care.
To conduct nation-wide training sessions to boost knowledge and awareness amongst nurses and technologists working in Emergency areas, operating rooms, and intensive care units.
To establish ‘Airway Sim Lab’ and skill Lab for ‘Life Saving skills in Trauma’ for training and research which is equipped with hi-fidelity simulators.
To collaborate with various trauma centers worldwide for research and clinical rotations.