Last January 8th, the world was horrified by the events in Tucson Arizona. A mass shooting in a supermarket parking lot on a Saturday morning – 19 people shot, 6 died. As tragic as this event was, it could have been worse had the emergency medical care providers and trauma team not been prepared. It [...]
Kudos to our EMS and Trauma System team for forging some new tools to improve trauma care in AZ. Our Data and Quality Assurance team developed an innovative benchmarking tool that’s shared with each of AZ’s trauma centers. The tool shows each facility their injury specific survival rates and compares those rates to the (blinded) other [...]
One of our Department priorities over the last few years has been to improve Arizona’s Trauma System. We know we can dramatically improve service and reduce costs by developing a coordinated and integrated system of trauma care for the entire state. More than 24,000 people are severely injured (called trauma) every year in Arizona, and [...]
Trauma remains a big problem in Arizona; it’s the leading cause of death for folks under 44 and nearly 27,000 people suffered injuries severe enough to be cared for in trauma centers in 2009. We’ve been working hard over the last few years to recruit new rural hospitals into the trauma system as Level IV [...]
This week I'm looking at what you are sure to hear a lot about in the coming three years. The CDC, led by Dr. Thomas Frieden, will be strategically addressing 5 "winnable battles" in public health. So far, I told you about Healthcare associated infections, childhood obesity and preventing smoking. We can make a difference [...]
One of our Department priorities over the last couple of years has been to better develop Arizona’s TRAUMA SYSTEM. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of why having a system of trauma care is so important: More than 24,000 people are severely injured (called trauma) every year in Arizona. More than 60% of these severe injuries occur [...]
