Columbia Memorial | Health Compass | Summer 2018

The best care we hope you never need By Trece Gurrad, Vice President of Patient Care Services We are blessed to be in an inviting rural setting, a wonderful place to live or visit. The waterways, beaches and trails provide recreational opportunities and a serene natural beauty to enjoy. However, living in a rural setting also means that highly specialized services may be hours away. Big-city emergency care That’s why I’m so very proud of our emergency, trauma and urgent care services. As part of our ongoing pursuit of clinical excellence, we created an emergency/urgent care service line with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) under the leadership of Anthony Ferroggiaro, MD, and transitioned to all emergency medicine residency-trained and board-certified physicians. This is almost unheard of in a rural setting. We also began the emergency medicine rural residency rotation in Oregon. Leveling up In June 2017, we were successfully recertified by the state of Oregon as a Level 4 Trauma Center. CMH is the region’s only Trauma-certified medical facility. Of course in the case of emergency, urgent and trauma care, we hope that you will not need us. But if you do, rest assured that our highly skilled team of dedicated physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, nursing assistants and support staff is here for you. Trauma centers make safer communities Life-threatening injuries—or traumas—happen in an instant. Car accidents and falls are the two most common causes of traumas. Saving the life of someone with a traumatic injury requires a strong chain of medical services—911 dispatchers, medics, hospital staff, emergency physicians and caregivers, surgeons, and Life Flight personnel. As a Level 4 Trauma Center, Columbia Memorial Hospital (CMH) provides advanced trauma life support (ATLS) to stabilize patients for transfer to a higher-level trauma center. What Level 4 means Level 4 Trauma Centers: ●   ● Have basic emergency department facilities to implement ATLS protocols and 24-hour laboratory coverage. Trauma nurses and physicians are available upon patient arrival. ●   ● May provide surgery and critical care services. ●   ● Have transfer agreements with Level 1 or 2 Trauma Centers for patients requiring greater care. ●   ● Incorporate a comprehensive quality assessment program. ●   ● Are involved with prevention efforts and must have an active outreach program for referring communities. Actively tackling community hazards A key benefit of having a trauma center in our community is to prevent future traumas. In 2016, CMH’s trauma team noticed that one-third of the ambulance calls for Fort Stevens State Park over the past two years had been for bicycle and skateboard accidents in one tunnel on the bike trails. CMH’s Trauma Coordinator, Jill Tillotson, and Trauma Registrar, Jennifer Perrigo, investigated the tunnel with the Oregon State Park district manager, Fort Stevens’ supervisor and Medix’s operational manager. They developed a plan for alerting people of the hazard as they approach the tunnel. New signs and paint have reduced the number of traumas to zero. >> community focus CMH’s trauma team noticed multiple accidents happening at this spot in Fort Stevens State Park. They teamed up with the community to help reduce those traumas. 2 HEALTH COMPASS SUMMER 2018