Letting families stay in the trauma ward

Many emergency care workers believe that a family's presence can distract the medical team in these critical moments. But a new study suggests that having loved ones present in the trauma ward when children are being treated has no detrimental effect on their care. In the study, medical teams performing invasive and potentially lifesaving procedures at Children's National Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center in Washington, D.C., that receives the most serious injury cases, did just as well whether family members were present or not.