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Health Matters: Providence Humboldt County | 9 Having the center in Eureka is invaluable. Trauma Medical Director Tuan N. Hoang, MD, says, "Because we're in such a large rural area, with limited medical assets, our center is critical for the region, because it provides patients with lifesaving capability locally, decreases critical transport time and keeps down financial costs to our patients, community and system at large." SPECIALIZED STAFFING Being a Level III trauma center means St. Joseph Hospital has at least one trauma surgeon on staff and on call every day of the week, every week of the year. The same holds true for emergency room physicians and orthopedic trauma surgeons. In addition, the hospital's ED nurses are specially trained and must take trauma education courses to help care for patients. "As a high-functioning, state-designated Level III trauma center, our objectives are to give the best care possible, keep our patients close to home and family support and minimize the financial burden of traveling as much as possible," explains Dr. Hoang. However, if a patient does require a greater level of care, they may be transferred to Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which has a higher Level II trauma center. Trauma centers are ranked according to the range of services they can provide, a Level I center being the highest. The Providence St. Joseph Hospital center was accredited in 2017. Klith started at St. Joseph Hospital as an emergency department technician in 2009 and worked his way up to overseeing the trauma center, a position he's held since December 2022. Klith has the critical task of ensuring that the state-verified program meets stringent standards. Working with him are two trauma navigator nurses who help monitor compliance. "We go through patients' charts, follow up on them, check to make sure they're getting their needs met and that we are meeting certain marks for these trauma patients," he explains. "I look for any gaps, and if we aren't meeting a mark, I want to know why. What kind of process can we implement so this doesn't happen again?" One simple example would be its best patient practice, which calls for antibiotics to be administered for any open fracture within 60 minutes of a trauma patient's arrival. Klith looks for outliers where that didn't happen and tries to figure out what the specific barriers were. "We're looking at any process that can be improved, because our goal is always to have the best patient outcome," he says. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Another critical aspect of the trauma program takes place outside the hospital. Through its extensive community outreach efforts, the hospital offers injury prevention programs, in an effort to improve public safety. "We work with high schools and elementary schools, teaching the principles of the Stop the Bleed program," says Klith. The team instructs both students and teachers. "We make sure they are comfortable with basic procedures if a person is losing a large amount of blood, because bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death. By teaching people the basics, they could possibly stop the bleeding and potentially save lives. It's a way we can all do our part to keep the community healthy and safe." If you know of an organization that would benefit from Stop the Bleed training, contact our trauma program at 707-445-8121, ext. 5945. 157 117 26 22 27 19 35 4 14 F a l l s M i s c e l l a n e o u s A s s a u l t M o t o r c y c l e P e d e s t r i a n B i c y c l e O t h e r B l u n t G u n s M o t o r Ve h i c l e C r a s h e s 2023 TRAUMA ACTIVATIONS

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