Trauma System Needed, Supporters Say
Last updated Wednesday, January 7, 2009 9:15 PM CST in News
By Doug Thompson
THE MORNING NEWS
BENTONVILLE -- Traumatic injury, or severe wounds combined with shock, is the leading cause of death for Arkansas children and all others younger than 34 years old, supporters of such a system said Wednesday.
Thirty-three out of every 1,000 children in Arkansas die from traumatic injury in car deaths, Dr. James Graham of Arkansas Children's Hospital told an audience of at least 50 lawmakers, health care professionals and interested parties at a 1 p.m. public forum at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Graham is a member of the Governor's Trauma Advisory Council. The council is conducting such forums around the state.
About 26 of every 1,000 Arkansans die in car wrecks compared with a national average of 14.5, Graham said. A trauma system would save at least 200 lives a year -- and up to 600 -- plus prevent up to 6,500 serious wounds from becoming permanent disabilities, council members said.
The council is recommending a system that would cost about $35 million a year, although Gov. Mike Beebe has proposed costs as low as $28 million. Much of the expense comes from the fact that Arkansas has a larger-than-normal proportion of residents who don't have health care insurance. Therefore much of the expense would come out of the state's pocket. That expense is part of the reason Arkansas is the last state in the country without a trauma system.
"What is a trauma system? The best way I can describe it is to compare it to the TV show or movie 'M.A.S.H.'," Graham said. "The idea is to get as close to the injured person and treat him as soon as possible." Hospitals around the state would be equipped to treat severe injury or to stabilize a patient they cannot treat and move him to an appropriate center as soon as possible, he said.
Trauma systems are like fire departments: They have a lot of "standby" costs, Graham said. You have to pay people to be available and to have a communication system between hospitals that shows where there's an specialist on duty, the panel said. For instance, one major though basic improvement a system would make is that everyone in the system would know where a nervous system or a bone specialist was on duty and could take the victim directly to that specialist if needed.
Washington Regional Medical Center representatives at the meeting asked whether the system could overload their emergency system because they have more specialists. Council members assured them that they should see no more patients, just those who need Washington Regional's assistance in a much more timely manner where the specialist's response could be more effective.
Of the $35 million budget proposed, "$30 million of it is going to hospitals," said Allen Usrey of Eureka Springs in an interview after the meeting. Usrey is a District 1 Board Member of the Arkansas Emergency Medical Technician's Association.
"That's a lot to spend just on hospitals," he said. "What about rehabilitation after the injury? What about prevention? Another $850,000 would go to administration. I'd like to have that job, deciding who gets the money."
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