Who We Are

MISSION: Physicians, healthcare professionals, and other experts working together to improve the health and safety of our communities. 

VISION: Access to the best care and outcomes through collaboration, coordination, education, and prevention. 

VALUES: Our core values are the beliefs that guide what we do every day. Learn more.

COTS is a healthcare coalition for trauma, emergency services, and emergency preparedness and response.

COTS exists to bring hospitals, EMS, and healthcare partners together to strengthen how we prepare, communicate, and respond—both during emergencies and in everyday patient care. We function as the connective tissue across Central, Southeast, and Southeast Central Ohio’s healthcare system.

What We Do

  • Education: We deliver centralized, essential training to equip healthcare workers with the skills and knowledge to improve outcomes. Learn more.

  • Emergency Preparedness & Response: We partner with healthcare organizations and community groups across Ohio to develop and maintain emergency plans and response tools. Our coalitions serve 36 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Learn more.

  • Emergency Services: We connect fire departments, EMS agencies, and hospital emergency departments to address complex healthcare delivery challenges by creating new, evidence-based resources and guidelines. Learn more.

  • Trauma Coordination: As a Regional Trauma Organization (RTO), we work with ten trauma centers and dozens of regional partners to coordinate access to trauma care. Learn more.

Why We Do It

COTS Value to All Partners

  • Stronger relationships, before the crisis: COTS builds trusted connections across organizations, so communication and coordination are already in place when situations escalate. 

  • Improved regional readiness: Members benefit from shared planning, exercises, and training that prepare organizations for mass casualty incidents, public health emergencies, and system stress. 

  • Education and shared learning: COTS offers interdisciplinary education, simulations, and best-practice sharing that support both clinical and operational excellence. 

  • Real-time awareness and coordination: During critical events, COTS supports timely information sharing, situational awareness, and resource coordination across the region. 

  • Regional trauma registry coordination: COTS facilitates a collaborative regional trauma registry to track injury patterns, support data driven decision making, and improve trauma care and patient outcomes across the system.  

  • System-level influence: Participation helps shape regional approaches, align response strategies, and ultimately improve patient outcomes and community resilience. 

  • Access to expertise and resources: COTS serves as a trusted hub for guidance, tools, and support—helping organizations navigate routine challenges as well as large-scale events. 

Being part of COTS means being part of a coordinated, forward-thinking network that strengthens patient care, improves readiness, and supports the entire healthcare system of care—every day, not just during disasters.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​COTS is a voluntary, cooperative, self-regulatory organization and maintains a 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue status for charitable, educational, and scientific intent.

COTS
History

    • In early 1995, members of the Columbus Medical Association (CMA) came together to discuss the increasing numbers of central Ohio youth dying from preventable traumatic injuries. The Regionalized Trauma System Task Force was established, comprised of 11 local physician and nurse trauma care leaders. Their mission was to explore possible solutions to increase victim survival after a critical trauma event in central Ohio and to address public injury prevention education.

    • In 1997, the group was renamed the Franklin County Trauma Committee after seeking participation and collaboration from all local hospitals and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies. However, trauma surpassed the Franklin County metropolis as hospitals and EMS providers from contiguous counties were increasingly utilizing Columbus trauma centers to care for their critically injured patients. In 1997, the name was changed to the Central Ohio Trauma System (COTS) Foundation and it was incorporated. The Board of Trustees was seated including representatives from hospitals, EMS agencies, local government, public injury prevention programs, and the CMA.

    • In 1998, the Central Ohio Trauma System Foundation was officially established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit status and hired its first employees.

    • In 1999 the “Foundation” designation was found to be misrepresentative of COTS’ mission and goals in the community. The term “Foundation” was legally deleted by formal trade name registration with the Ohio Secretary of State and the current name of Central Ohio Trauma System, or COTS, was identified. The initial work of COTS included establishing the COTS Regional Trauma Registry, convening stakeholder groups to determine local trauma care issues, and teaching stakeholders about the importance of “getting the right (trauma) patient to the right hospital in the right amount of time.” Trauma stakeholders were not familiar with COTS and did not know the value of a regional trauma system. Originally, only hospitals, EMS, and public health within Franklin County were involved with COTS, but it did not take long for contiguous and non-contiguous counties to participate once they recognized the benefits of regional collaboration. Over the years, COTS expanded its focus from trauma to emergency medical care issues including but not limited to emergency department diversion, patients experiencing a sudden cardiac event or a stroke, and transportation of patients with concealed carry weapons.

    • In 2002, COTS took on the role of coordinating disaster preparedness for hospitals, health care systems, and other healthcare partners in the 15 central Ohio counties.

    • After the 2016 strategic board retreat, COTS created three divisions with advisory boards to the main COTS Board of Trustees to ensure strategic collaboration and a response-ready system of care: trauma, emergency services, and disaster/coalition.

    • On January 1, 2019, COTS began coordinating disaster preparedness for the 21 southeast and southeast central county healthcare partners.

    • In June 2022, the Central Ohio Trauma System officially changed its name to COTS. No longer just an acronym, COTS is now our formal name signifying the evolution of our coalition & representing all of our members and their diverse work. We represent 37 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Their experiences are vast, and their need to work together has never been stronger. Click here

    • On October 8, 2022, COTS celebrated 25 years of bringing Central, Southeast, and Southeast Central Ohio's health systems together. Watch videos that dive deep into our history as well as the far-reaching branches of our organization by clicking here.

  • Today, COTS is a driving force across Central and Southeastern Ohio, coordinating 38 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and advancing collaboration in trauma care, emergency services, and emergency preparedness.

    COTS serves as a neutral forum where complex patient care issues—especially those impacting multiple stakeholder groups—are brought forward, discussed, and resolved. It is the one place in the region where, regardless of perspective or discipline, the patient remains at the center of every decision.

    While COTS does not provide direct patient care, the collective work of its stakeholders strengthens systems, improves coordination, and ultimately leads to better outcomes for patients throughout the region.

    The success of COTS is built on the dedication of a diverse network of professionals—physicians, nurses, EMS providers, public health experts, emergency response personnel, registrars, program coordinators, administrators, and many others. Their ongoing commitment makes a truly regionalized system of care possible.

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