A group of trauma surgeons — more than three-quarters of whom are gun owners — has released a series of recommendations for reducing firearm injury and death. The recommendations represent a broad consensus of surgeons from across the U.S., and they include a wide spectrum of strategies for reducing gun injury. The surgeons are part…
Author: Robert Fojut
Poor communication between nurses and physicians in a trauma surgical intensive care unit can increase the risk of adverse events. To improve SICU communication and teamwork, trauma providers at Stanford Hospital developed a nurse-driven rounding process. The new process emphasizes nursing input and leadership, structured communication and timely decision making. The Stanford team described their…
Recent mass casualty incidents in the U.S. have changed the way we think about traumatic injury. Trauma leaders now know that the key to survival for many victims is immediate bleeding control provided by first responders or private citizens. According to Lenworth Jacobs, MD, MPH, FACS, chairman of the Hartford Consensus and leader of the…
The 2018 Creighton Trauma Symposium will take place on June 15 in Omaha, Nebraska. The focus of this year’s event is the Stop the Bleed campaign. This year’s special symposium guest is Lenworth Jacobs, MD, MPH, FACS, chairman of the Hartford Consensus and leader of the ACS Stop the Bleed Program. During his keynote speech,…
Some endovascular trauma procedures are relatively uncommon. Given that fact, a robust quality assurance strategy is an essential part of any endovascular trauma program. Risk mitigation for endovascular trauma “The best way to mitigate the risks is to prepare and plan for them,” said Megan Brenner, MD. For REBOA and other endovascular procedures, it is…
Since many trauma surgeons and trauma nurses have little or no training in endovascular techniques, new endovascular trauma programs must make education a priority. Endovascular training for trauma surgeons For many trauma surgeons today, the focus of endovascular training is learning to perform REBOA. “The most challenging part of REBOA training is common femoral artery…
Once you’ve determined who will lead and take part in the endovascular trauma program, the next step is to plan and secure the program’s physical resources and equipment. One big question is whether or not to create a dedicated trauma hybrid room. Melanie Hoehn, MD, believes that hybrid rooms are useful but not essential to…
The first step to establishing a new endovascular trauma program is to identify the clinicians who will lead and staff the program. “The people issue is probably the one thing that hospitals don’t spend enough time focusing on,” said Melanie Hoehn, MD, a University of Maryland School of Medicine vascular surgeon. “The success of an…
Trauma leaders worldwide show a growing interest in using endovascular tools in trauma resuscitation, hemorrhage control and definitive injury management. This interest is driven in part by the development of new endovascular devices designed specifically for injured patients. In addition, the emergence of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has increased overall awareness…
Trauma surgeon Eileen Metzger Bulger, MD, FACS was recently appointed chair of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (COT). Dr. Bulger is the chief of trauma at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she directs both the adult and pediatric trauma programs. As the 20th chair of the COT, she brings a diverse…