Health Care District's Trauma System Marks 25 Years of Saving Lives in Palm Beach County
PALM SPRINGS, Fla., May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the past 25 years, Palm Beach County's Trauma System, which is funded and overseen by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, has treated more than 64,000 traumatically-injured patients. Through an integrated system of dedicated professionals, many of those patients have been returned back home to live and work in their communities.
In April 1990, the Health Care District's Board launched the Aeromedical Program when it approved the purchase of the first of two Trauma Hawk helicopters. In May of 1991, the coordinated Trauma System began providing lifesaving care to the first critically-injured patients at the two local trauma centers at St. Mary's Medical Center and Delray Medical Center.
The Trauma System has since matured into a nationally-recognized system, featuring an efficient and integrated model of care. In 2015, the Trauma System treated more than 3,700 Palm Beach County residents and visitors.
"This significant milestone is a testament to the commitment and skill of the professionals in the Trauma System in Palm Beach County," said Philip H. Ward, III, Chair of the Health Care District's Board of Commissioners. "Throughout the last 25 years, our collaboration with our community partners has demonstrated that an effective Trauma System can save lives."
This coordinated emergency-response system includes: employees with the District's Aeromedical Program, which features two Sikorsky S76-C+ Trauma Hawk air ambulances; the county's enhanced 911 communications and dispatch system; the county's EMS providers, who support the Trauma System's pre-hospital component; the trauma physicians, nurses and staff at the county's two privately-operated Level 1 Trauma Centers and their rehabilitation facilities; and staff of the Trauma Agency, who daily oversee a system-wide quality management program and provide injury prevention outreach and education.
Since the Trauma System took flight in May of 1991, more than 14,500 patients have received safe, efficient air transport services and care through the District's Aeromedical Program. The highly-skilled and experienced flight crew includes airline transport-rated pilots, a nurse who also is a state-certified paramedic, and an additional state-certified flight paramedic. The medical team members are Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel.
"Palm Beach County covers a large area, larger than the state of Rhode Island," said Darcy J. Davis, the Health Care District's Chief Executive Officer. "Having an integrated and coordinated trauma system in place, including safe, rapid air transport, can mean the difference between life and death for a trauma patient in our area."
For more information, visit www.TraumaHawk.org.
About the Health Care District:
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County provides adult and pediatric services at the C. L. Brumback Primary Care Clinics, health coverage programs for uninsured residents, a pharmacy operation, a nationally recognized Trauma System, dedicated nurses in nearly 170 public schools, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center, and acute care hospital services at Lakeside Medical Center, the county's only public hospital.
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SOURCE Health Care District of Palm Beach County
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