Katelyn Peterson

Story of Care for Katelyn Peterson

Without warning, a severe jolt caused their Honda CR-V to spin out of control on the Golden State Freeway and hit the center divider. The driver in the car behind them had fallen asleep, plowing into the Petersons’ SUV. “Everything happened so fast,” recalls Mrs. Peterson, who suffered cuts and bruises on her hands, legs and face, as well as neck pain. She and her husband were immediately knocked unconscious upon impact. After regaining consciousness, they realized their car was now facing the wrong direction on the freeway. “All I could think about were the kids,” she says. “My son seemed fine, but Katelyn was not responding.”

Onlookers had already called the paramedics, who quickly airlifted Katelyn to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the region’s only freestanding Level I Pediatric Trauma Center designated by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency. Once the helicopter touched down on the hospital’s rooftop helipad, the Emergency Department’s highly regarded Trauma Team, headed by a pediatric surgeon, took over. The team of physicians and nurses checked the preschooler’s heart rate and blood pressure and performed X-rays and computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans. A nurse from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) also met Katelyn upon her arrival. 

Katelyn, who had been buckled securely in her car seat during the accident that totaled her parents’ car, was soon transferred to the PICU, where her reflexes and vital signs were monitored every hour. While the tests revealed no injuries, Katelyn was still slipping in and out of consciousness. Neurological specialists, keenly aware that some lifethreatening injuries do not show up immediately, kept a close eye on her.

The excellent care that Katelyn received is why children with the most serious injuries and illnesses are brought to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Critical patients not only receive the most advanced care upon their arrival in the Emergency Department, they receive the intricate follow-up monitoring only available in a specialized intensive care setting.
“We operate like a well-oiled machine. The transition for our patients from one unit to another is very smooth and efficient, which is absolutely critical, especially for those suffering from severe trauma,” says Sylvia del Castillo, MD, a physician in the PICU and the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

The type of care patients receive in the first couple of hours following an injury can mean the difference between life and death. The PICU, which staffs 80 registered nurses and nine pediatric intensivists, is the largest such unit on the West Coast, treating nearly 1,200 patients suffering from not only severe trauma, but also acute illnesses and infections.
“When a patient is transferred to our unit from the Emergency Department, expert physicians and nurses from both units are in constant communication,” explains David Schmidt, RN, MSN, CPNP, clinical manager in the PICU. Mr. Schmidt, who started his career in the PICU 32 years ago, says that the two units work so closely together that they’re like a family. “We support each other, and we are truly all dedicated to providing the best possible care for our patients.”

Each of the hospital’s four intensive care units — Pediatric Intensive Care, Cardiothoracic Intensive Care, Center for Newborn and Infant Critical Care and Bone Marrow Transplant — provide an extraordinary level of expertise with an effective mix of medical disciplines, including nursing, respiratory care, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and anesthesiology. Many of the critical care physicians are double- and triple-board certified.

When the New Hospital Building opens its doors, it will have 120 intensive care beds, more than one-third of the total 317 beds planned for the inpatient facility. This will allow Children's Hospital Los Angeles to meet the growing demand for such comprehensive care for youngsters like Katelyn, who left the PICU after two days with no permanent injuries.
“I’m so thankful that Katelyn was brought to Children's Hospital,” says Mrs. Peterson. “I knew from the moment we arrived that my daughter was in the very best hands.”