Fire department and county EMS officials in Marysville, Wash., defended the decision to transport high school shooting victims to a nearby hospital rather than the region’s Level I pediatric trauma center, according to a Seattle Times report. Teenage victims of the October 24 shooting were transported by ground ambulance to nearby Providence Regional Medical Center…
Author: Trauma News
Victims of the recent high school shooting in Marysville, Wash., were transported first to a local hospital, not the region’s top-level trauma center, according to a Seattle Times report. Trauma care leaders in Washington state are questioning the decision, and system leaders are seeking debriefings. Harborview Medical Center in Seattle is a verified Level I…
The American College of Surgeons 2014 Clinical Congress takes place this week in San Francisco. The conference features a range of sessions covering trauma surgery and the management of traumatically injured patients, including: 1. The Disaster Abdomen: Problems of an Open Abdomen, Enteroatmospheric Fistulas and Beyond Read Description 2. Surgical Hospitalists, Shift Coverage and Advanced…
States are taking different approaches to the role of trauma centers in Ebola response planning. The University of California announced Friday that all five of its Level I trauma centers are prepared to receive patients with Ebola infections. Meanwhile, Minnesota healthcare leaders have specifically excluded Level I trauma centers from the state’s Ebola plan. Lawrence…
Alexander Eastman, MD, trauma and critical care surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, recommended Thursday that the state of Texas create a secure communication network dedicated to potential Ebola cases, according to an Austin American-Statesman report. Dr. Eastman is the interim medical director at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He made the recommendation to a…
The Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council recently organized a mass casualty drill in San Antonio. The largest ever in the city, the drill involved staff from more than 50 hospitals, approximately 200 EMS and law enforcement personnel and about 600 mock victims, according to a WOAI report. The drill included two overlapping casualty scenarios —…
Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, N.Y., will undertake a $3.2 million surgery department renovation as it prepares to seek Level I verification from the American College of Surgeons, according to a Buffalo Business First report. The renovation will enable the hospital to create a designated trauma OR. It will also help the surgery department…
Immune system activity following traumatic brain injury causes additional brain damage. An investigational drug may help protect injured patients against immune-related neurodegeneration. The findings were recently published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications. Read Paper The experimental drug, known as VG1177, is currently undergoing pre-clinical animal safety trials. “This research has important implications for contact sports involving…
Richard P. Gonzalez, MD, was recently named director of the division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns at Loyola University Health System in Chicago. Dr. Gonzalez was recruited to Loyola from the University of South Alabama. Loyola University Medical Center is the only Level I trauma center in Illinois that is verified by the…
Residents of a Florida county will soon be able to indicate to emergency personnel their preference for using the county’s free helicopter ambulance instead of the commercial alternative, according to a Key West Citizen report. Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, operates a taxpayer-funded air ambulance service called Trauma Star. But according to the…