1. (1) “AAAM” means Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
2. (2) “ACS-COT” means American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.
3. (3) “Advisory Council” means the Tennessee Trauma Care Advisory Council.
4. (4) “ATLS” means Advanced Trauma Life Support.
5. (5) “CAISS” means Certified Abbreviated Injury Scale Specialists.
6. (6) “CE” means Continuing Education.
7. (7) “CME” means Continuing Medical Education.
8. (8) “Commission” means the Health Facilities Commissioner.
9. (9) “Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center (CRPC)” means a facility that shall be capable of providing comprehensive specialized pediatric medical and surgical care to all acutely ill and injured children. The center shall be responsible for serving as a regional referral center for the specialized care of pediatric patients or in special circumstances provide safe and timely transfer of children to other resources for specialized care. Rules and regulations governing CRPCs are delineated in Chapter 0720-31.
10. (10) “CT” means Computed Tomography.
11. (11) “D” means desired and is strongly recommended for patient care at the corresponding facility level, but not required for designation.
12. (12) “Data” means the original information contained on the report required by the regulations, including, but not limited to, both identifying and non-identifying information.
13. (13) “Deficiencies” means components of the site review that do not meet designation criteria.
14. (14) “DIED” means Died in the Emergency Department.
15. (15) “DMEP” means Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness.
16. (16) “DOA” means Dead on Arrival.
17. (17) “E” means essential and is required for designation at the corresponding facility level.
18. (18) “ECG” means Electrocardiogram.
19. (19) “ED” means Emergency Department.
20. (20) “EMTALA” means Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
21. (21) “Facility” shall have the same meaning as defined in T.C.A. § 68-11-201(15).
22. (22) “FAST” means Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma.
23. (23) “FTE” means Full Time Equivalent.
24. (24) “GCS” means Glascow Coma Scale.
25. (25) “Health Care Practitioner” means a physician, surgeon, or other health care professional licensed under T.C.A. Title 63 or Title 68 who is engaged in diagnosing and/or treating patients within the trauma care system.
26. (26) “ICP” means Increased Intracranial Pressure.
27. (27) “Identifying Information” means any information that could lead to the identification of a patient who has been diagnosed or treated within the trauma care system.
28. (28) “ICU” means Intensive Care Unit.
29. (29) “ISS” means Injury Severity Score.
30. (30) “Levels of Care” means the type of trauma service provided by the facility as shown by the degree of commitment in personnel and facilities made to the delivery of that service.
31. (31) “Level I” means a hospital capable of providing care for the acutely injured patient and which meets all requirements in these regulations defined as Level of Care I.
32. (32) “Level II” means a hospital capable of providing care for the acutely injured patient and which meets all requirements in these regulations defined as Level of Care II.
33. (33) “Level III” means a hospital capable of providing care for the acutely injured patient and which meets all requirements in these regulations defined as Level of Care III. The Level III facility generally serves communities without all the resources usually associated with Level I or II facilities. Planning for care of the injured in small communities or suburban settings usually calls for transfer agreements and protocols for the most severely injured patients. Designation of the Level III facility may also require innovative use of the region’s resources. For example, if there is no neurosurgeon in a large, sparsely populated region it may require that a general surgeon be prepared to provide the emergency decompression of mass lesions and arrangement for patient transfer to the most appropriate Level I or II hospital after the surgeon has carried out the patient’s life-saving operation. Staffing of the Level III hospital is another example of the innovative use of a region’s resources. It will be impractical to require a general surgeon to be in-house in many instances. With modern communication systems it seems reasonable that the surgeon should be promptly available and in a great majority of instances meet the patient in the emergency room on arrival. When a Level III hospital first receives notification of a critically injured patient, it can activate on-call personnel to respond promptly to the hospital. The intent of this flexibility should be clear: to provide the best possible care even in the most remote circumstances.
34. (34) “Level IV” means a hospital capable of providing care for the acutely injured patient and which meets all requirements in these regulations defined as Level of Care IV. The hospital shall have treatment protocols for resuscitation, transfer protocols on record, shall submit trauma data elements to the state trauma registry as outlined in the Tennessee Trauma Data Dictionary, and participate in system performance improvement. The Level IV facility will maintain a good working relationship with the nearest Level I, II, or III trauma center.
35. (35) “MTP” means Massive Transfusion Protocol.
36. (36) “Medical Record” means medical histories, records, reports, summaries, diagnoses, prognoses, records of treatment and medication ordered and given, entries, x-rays, radiology interpretations, and other written, electronic, or graphic data prepared, kept, made or maintained in a facility that pertains to confinement or services rendered to patients admitted or receiving care.
37. (37) “Non-Physician Practitioner (NPP)” means a nurse practitioner (NP), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), or physician assistant (PA).
38. (38) “OR” means Operating Room.
39. (39) “Person” means any member of the “medical, scientific, and academic research community.”
40. (40) “PGY” means postgraduate year.
41. (41) “PI” means Performance Improvement.
42. (42) “PIPS” means Performance Improvement and Patient Safety.
43. (43) “Reporting Period” means interval of time over which components of designation assessment occurs.
44. (44) “RN” means Registered Nurse.
45. (45) “TBI” means Traumatic Brain Injury.
46. (46) “Trauma Center” shall have the same definition as provided in T.C.A. § 68-59-102(6).
47. (47) “TMD” means Trauma Medical Director.
48. (48) “TPM” means Trauma Program Manager.
49. (49) “Trauma Registry” means a central registry compiled of injury incidence information supplied by designated trauma centers and Comprehensive Pediatric Emergency Centers for the purpose of allowing the Commission to analyze data and conduct special studies regarding the causes and consequences of traumatic injury.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 68-11-201, 68-11-202, 68-11-209, and 68-11-259. Administrative History: Original rule filed September 18, 1985; effective October 18, 1985. Repeal and new rule filed December 5, 2011; effective March 4, 2012. Repeal and new rules filed August 6, 2019; effective November 4, 2019. Transferred from chapter 1200-08-12 pursuant to Public Chapter 1119 of 2022 effective July 1, 2022. Amendments filed February 5, 2026; effective May 6, 2026.