Hendrick ER designated level III trauma center
By ANTHONY WILSON
Staff Writer
Peeling off his lab coat and scaling a scaffold outside Hendrick
hospital, Dr. Leigh Taliaferro threw down the emergency room sign
to reveal the operation's new status: trauma center.
The Texas Department of Health on Friday officially designated
Hendrick a level III trauma center, meaning it meets higher standards
of care for treating patients suffering from serious injuries
and wounds.
Illustrating the difference between an emergency room and a
trauma center, Taliaferro explained that previously wreck victims
were transported to Hendrick, where emergency personnel evaluated
their condition. If need be, a trauma surgeon was summoned to
examine the patient and possibly to order the operating room be
prepared.
The process could take three hours, missing the "golden
period" for trauma care, Taliaferro said.
Now, Hendrick will have a qualified trauma code team on call,
able to respond in a quicker, more organized fashion.
The nurse in charge will assemble the team based on details
about the patients' conditions before they arrive, buying its
members time to gather the resources essential to treating the
injuries.
"No question that when you have a designated trauma center,
you save lives," said Taliaferro, Hendrick's director of
trauma services. "You take the right patient to the right
hospital at the right time. We're waiting for you, ready to operate.
We're providing optimal care."
Along with treating Abilenians, Hendrick will serve as the
area's designated trauma center, providing referrals to and accepting
transfers from Big Country hospitals.
Hendrick is only the state's second level III trauma center
since the health department began the designations five years
ago.
Level II designations require hospitals to have a trauma surgeon
on duty round the clock. Level I is reserved for research facilities
typically associated with medical schools.
Kathy Perkins, a health department official, noted Hendrick
worked three years to achieve its new status.
"It's been a long road for this hospital," she said.
"This doesn't happen overnight. But when we came here to
survey a few months ago, we were very impressed. Everywhere we
went it was on the lips that this hospital cares about trauma
patients."
Perkins also challenged the hospital to continue upgrading
its standards, saying it yields the resources to gain level II
designation.
Though the current designation is good for three years, the
state will continue to monitor the ongoing education and qualifications
of, and care provided by the trauma code team.
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