Pediatric Trauma

The first and only pediatric trauma center in Lubbock and the region

When your child experiences trauma - Covenant Children's should be your ONLY choice. Covenant Children's operates the region's only pediatric trauma center. We are verified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) as a level II pediatric trauma center. Each year we see over 450 pediatric trauma encounters and we have a number of specialists -such as pediatric trauma surgeons, pediatric orthopedic surgeons, pediatric neurosurgery physicians, etc. - that are on-call to respond immediately to any trauma needs.

Pediatric trauma patients arrive through our dedicated pediatric emergency department, the first in the region. Furthermore, our Pediatric ED served as the region's only dedicated pediatric ED for over 10 years. When a trauma meets certain criteria for a trauma activation, a full team of specialists will be mobilized to ensure you child receives the care they need.

An adult trauma center (even level I) not also verified for pediatrics is not guaranteed to meet the American College of Surgeon's pediatric trauma standards - or ANY standards that demonstrate ability to care for children for that matter. Verification as a pediatric trauma center matters. In order to be verified as a pediatric trauma center, Covenant Children's had to meet the requirements in the Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual and undergo an on-site survey, conducted by a team of reviewers experienced in the field of trauma. Established by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in 1987, the Consultation/Verification Program for Hospitals promotes the development of trauma centers in which participants provide not only the hospital resources necessary for trauma care, but also the entire spectrum of care to address the needs of all injured patients - from prehospital phase through the rehabilitation process.

The ACS recommends that pediatric trauma centers should be used to the fullest extent feasible,” and only, “when a pediatric trauma center is not available, [should] its role be carried out by an adult trauma center that fulfills the requirements for provision of optimal trauma care to children.”

Level I Adult Trauma centers may not be equipped to handle, nor are they verified to care for, pediatric patients unless they elect to also be verified as a Pediatric Trauma center.

To see what makes a pediatric trauma center, review the table below from the Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual.

When your child needs trauma care, you want to go to the ONLY ACS-verified pediatric trauma center - Covenant Children's.

E= Essential ; D=Desired

Quality Focus

We proudly participate in the Pediatric Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP). The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) has been dedicated to improving the quality of care for injured patients for more than 80 years. Since 2016, the Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) has continued this focus on improving quality care by providing validated, risk-adjusted benchmarking for Pediatric trauma centers. The risk-adjusted data, combined with training and collaboration with other TQIP participants, allows TQIP participants to track outcomes and improve patient care.

In 2019, we also made significant investment in our pediatric surgical program via beginning to participate in the American College of Surgeons Pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS Pediatric NSQIP^®). Through our Pediatric NSQIP participation we collect highly reliable clinical data that allows us to compare our surgical outcomes with the outcomes of other participants in the program. This ensures we provide care on par with the other major children's hospitals across the United States. We are the ONLY Pediatric NSQIP participating facility in our Region. We participate because providing the best possible care your child matters. It matters to us and we know it certainly matters to you.

Leading the Region

As leaders in pediatric care within the West Texas/Panhandle Plains and Eastern New Mexico regions, Covenant Children's is proud to offer numerous training and education opportunities for providers and facilities in our region. For example, we provide Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC), ENPC (Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course), Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol (NRP), Basic Life Support (BLS), and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) courses, among many others. See what education we offer to other providers and know that your child is receiving care at a facility that leads in pediatric care.

We also partner with regional facilities by providing Pedi ED Readiness Assessments, based on national standards, whereby we help evaluate facilities readiness to care for pediatric emergencies. This includes ensuring the facility has appropriate equipment, supplies, policies and procedures, training, etc. Research shows that hospitals that score higher on readiness assessment tools have significantly (~4x) lower mortality than hospitals scoring at the lowest quartile.

By Ground or Air - We're There

Our Specialty Pediatric Transport Team is ready to to transport children who sustain a traumatic injury, are born prematurely, or that may be suffering from respiratory distress. Seconds and minutes can make a real difference in children and hosting the region's only pediatric transport team is a natural extension of our committmen to providing the highest quality of pediatric care that we can.