Peak Living - Winter 2012 - (Page 10)

The boy is not real. He is a state-of-theart mannequin used by Memorial’s trauma team during training in the busiest emergency department in Colorado. The monthly exercise helps Memorial’s staff build teamwork, skill and understanding. “Let’s go ahead and get him off the backboard and look at his back,” said Dr. Larry Butler, director of trauma services at Memorial. The team rolls the child onto his side and removes the spinal backboard, gently returning the boy to his back. A more comfortable collar is placed around the boy’s neck. “No burns on his back,” Dr. Butler announced to the team. Developing a New Standard These monthly trainings—and a new philosophy aimed at removing patients from backboards as soon as safely possible—has improved patient care in the emergency department. Trauma patients now spend an average of nine minutes on a backboard after arrival, down from 2.5 or more hours. “Backboards are perfect for transport, but they are not useful inside a hospital setting where you have control and you can move people with good, proper C-spine precautions,” said Dr. David Steinbruner, an emergency room physician. Patients who are left on backboards for a long period experience extreme discomfort and are susceptible to decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bedsores, and other complications such as pneumonia. Elderly people with fragile skin and people with compromised immune systems or severe infections are especially prone to decubitus ulcers, which can be extremely dangerous, even deadly, in some people. “Imagine lying on a board for 20 minutes, an hour. That entire time, your skin is not getting a full supply of oxygen, so the longer you go without oxygen, the quicker you are going to have breakdown of your tissue,” said Lynn Andersen, a clinical nurse specialist and manager of trauma services. “The problem is, decubitus ulcers don’t 10 | W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Peak Living - Winter 2012

Peak Living - Winter 2012
Contents
HealthBeat
Q & A
Savoring Sucess
Trauma Training
One Devoted Donor
Focus on Food
Community Calendar

Peak Living - Winter 2012

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