Director of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care
Dr. Babak Sarani is Professor of Surgery and Emergency Medicine and Chief of Trauma Surgery at The George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. He graduated from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1997. He then completed his training in General Surgery at GW in 2004. Following this, he completed fellowship training in Trauma and Critical Care Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
He began his career as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Critical Care Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. There, he founded the rapid response team for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. This program decreased the incidence of cardiac arrest throughout the Hospital by 42% – a rate that remained stable for the next seven years. He was recruited back to DC in 2011 where he became the Founder and Director of the Center for Trauma and Critical Care at The George Washington University Hospital.
Implementing lessons learned from military medicine regarding rapid triage and transport, Dr. Sarani led efforts to create an aeromedical transfer program to allow for rapid transport of critically injured and ill patients for an 80-mile radius of the hospital. He also created and led a mobile, ground-based intensive care team which allows healthcare providers to deliver highly advanced care before a patient even arrives at GW Hospital.
Most recently, he and GW Hospital led the effort to provide whole blood to the paramedics in the DC Fire Department and to write the protocols which allow them to administer this life-saving modality to critically injured patients. This strategy is based directly off the lessons learned from Operation Enduring Freedom and has resulted in a dramatic decrease in firearm-related deaths in Washington, DC. GW Hospital remains the only hospital that oversees this program in partnership with the local Fire Department. Continuing to partner with the Washington, DC Fire Department, Dr. Sarani created and leads the only deployable Extrication and Amputation service in the District.
Regionally, Dr. Sarani is a leader in trauma care both in Washington, DC and in Northern Virginia. Dr. Sarani established the first trauma center in Arlington, Virginia and is now leading the effort to establish the first trauma center in Anacostia, Washington, DC. He is the immediate past Chair of the Washington, DC Committee on Trauma – a position that he held for six years. During this time, he led efforts to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gunshot wounds in the region. He also aligned all trauma centers in Washington, DC in order to study factors that are associated with recurrent violent injury as a means to inform injury prevention efforts by governmental agencies as well as by non-governmental organizations.
Dr. Sarani is now the Vice Chair and Chair Designate for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma Performance Improvement Program, which is tasked with establishing evidence-based guidelines for trauma care nationally. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Trauma Society, past member of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Secretary of the Surgical Critical Care Program Director’s Society, President of the Chest Wall Injury Society, past Chair of the Brady United Against Gun Violence Regional Leadership Council for Washington, DC, and past Editor-in-Chief of the Society of Critical Care Medicine textbook on the Fundamentals of Critical Care Support.
Dr. Sarani is actively involved in teaching throughout the region. He routinely teaches learners from EMT and paramedic students to nurses and physicians. Dr. Sarani created the Gun Safety Resource Guide to educate primary care providers and their patients on firearm injuries and safety. He is an active instructor for federal law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Services, protective details of various high-level governmental officials, and many various military special operations and intelligence community elements.
Dr. Sarani is also an active researcher who has published the only papers evaluating causes of death following public mass shootings. These papers have altered response strategies and processes of care in many EMS jurisdictions throughout the United States.
During his off time, he enjoys traveling with his wife and two daughters and eating at fine restaurants. He recently fulfilled his desires to find the ultimate honey and croissant and baklava and coffee, and is now on the search for the best Alpaca steak!
Podcast: What is a Level 1 Trauma Center?
Babak Sarani, MD, FACS, FCCM, explains what the designation of a Level I Trauma Center means to patients in need of emergency care. He discusses the staffing, equipment and procedures that go into providing care for the most critically injured patients.
Learn more about the Center for Trauma and Critical Care >