Each year more than 2,700
people are treated for devastating injuries in the Level 1 trauma center at
Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC). Sadly, many of those injuries
could have been prevented.
To improve the health and
wellness of the entire region, MUMC has created the Institute for Injury
Research and Prevention. This new Institute will use research, education,
training, and outreach to reduce the impact of injury and violence in our
region. The institute is the vision of Gage Ochsner, M.D., FACS, chief of
trauma services and surgical critical care at MUMC.
"We see so many traumas that
could have been much less serious and even prevented if only the patient had
taken appropriate precautions," said Ochsner. "As an academic medical
center, MUMC has the infrastructure in place to create an outstanding injury
prevention institute based on research and prevention."
The institute will be led by
a team of physicians, nurses, researchers, educators, and other health
professionals. They will identify the leading causes of preventable injuries
in our region and provide education to significantly reduce those incidents.
The institute will also:
- Provide education on an array of topics related to safe driving,
hunting, water sports, ATV use, cycling, workplace injuries,
life-changing falls in the senior population, and other causes of
injury.
- Gather and share trauma data with the rest of the state, giving MUMC
a leading role in predicting and preventing injuries before they
happen.
- Train physicians in rural hospitals on the importance of
transporting patients to MUMC's Level 1 trauma center within the
life-saving "golden hour."
It will cost approximately $1
million to launch the new institute. Through gifts to the Memorial Health
Foundation, $500,000 has already been committed to this project and the
balance will be raised through donations and grants. The new Institute is
expected to be up and running by the middle of next year.
Memorial University Medical Center is a two-state healthcare organization
serving a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina.
The system includes its flagship hospital, a 530-bed academic medical
center; Memorial
primary
and specialty care physician networks; a major
medical
education program;
business
and industry services; and
NurseOne,
a 24-hour call center. You can follow us at
facebook.com/memorialhealth,
twitter.com/mymemorial,
and
youtube.com/memorialhealth.
-Story reprinted with
permission from Memorial University Medical Center
