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University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC) serves as the primary clinical training site for the University of Nevada School of Medicine. It serves southern Nevada as a tertiary care center, including the state’s only Level One Trauma Center and Regional Burn Center. Surgical subspecialties, in compliance with American College of Surgeon requirements for Level One Trauma Centers, are available 24 hours a day including cardiothoracic, neurosurgical, revascularization and replant capabilities. Emergent cardiac catheterization is available 24 hours a day, as are interventional radiology, CT, ultrasound, and MRI.

UMC is the only public, non-profit hospital in Clark County and is home to the following:

• Nevada's only Level One Trauma Center
• Nevada's only Pediatric Trauma Center
• Nevada's only Burn Care Center
• 508 bed Joint Commission accredited hospital
      • 60 bed Adult Emergency Department
      • 11 bed free-standing Trauma Center
      • 19 bed Pediatric Emergency Department
• 107,000 visits/year including 29,000 pediatric visits and 10,300 trauma visits annually
      • 26% admission rate 
      • 12% Critical Care admissions

UMC Chest Pain Center and Cardiac Activation System:

The UMC Chest Pain Center, the first full-scale chest pain evaluation center in Nevada, was established in 1996. After initial evaluation and management in the Emergency Department, patients at low to intermediate risk of acute coronary syndrome are admitted to a discrete 6-bed unit. The Chest Pain Center is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by 2 specialized RNs trained in critical care. All 6 beds are dedicated to patients presenting with acute chest pain, and are equipped with continuous ST-segment monitoring systems.

Ross P. Berkeley, MD, Director of the UMC Chest Pain Center, has worked collaboratively with members of the Emergency Department, Cardiology Department, and Cardiac Catheterization Lab to refine and streamline the protocol for assessment of patients experiencing acute chest pain. After 6 hours of normal serial cardiac biomarkers, patients undergo non-invasive cardiac stress testing via exercise treadmill, adenosine-Cardiolite, or dobutamine-Cardiolite evaluation. Cardiac stress studies are performed daily from 9am to 10pm, including weekends. The Chest Pain Center’s systematic approach to patient evaluation and accelerated diagnostic protocol allows for thorough, yet cost-effective and rapid assessment, often within 9 hours of patient arrival. UMC achieved status as an Accredited Chest Pain Center with PCI by the Society of Chest Pain Centers in 2009.

Dr. Berkeley also developed and continues to coordinate the UMC Cardiac Activation System for Emergency Department management of patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and new left bundle branch (LBBB). This system facilitates rapid patient stabilization and transfer to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab for emergent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Under this program, the door-to-balloon (D2B) time for emergent PCI has dramatically improved, with consistent achievement of D2B times <90 minutes in 2009.
 

 

University of Nevada Residency in Emergency Medicine | 901 Rancho Lane Suite 135 | Las Vegas, Nevada 89106