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.
Level 4 Trauma Centers:
A key benefit of having a trauma center in our community is to prevent future traumas.
New signage denotes an upcoming hazard at Ft. Stevens State Park.
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.
Media Contact: Nancee Long, 503-338-4504
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