LUBBOCK, Texas- With tragedies like the shooting spree in Odessa and Midland over the weekend, high capacity trauma centers are increasingly in need.
University Medical Center, more commonly known as UMC, remains the area’s only level 1 trauma center, the closest being in Fort Worth.
To achieve level one status, a hospital’s trauma surgeons must be in-house 24-hours a day as opposed to on-call. Every three years, the American College of Surgeons surveys hospitals to determine their level of designation, also known as “re-verification.”
“We serve about a 250-mile radius, that nearly 200,000 square miles and there’s a lot of excellent hospitals around here,” said Dr. Steven Brooks, Trauma Medical Director at UMC. “But there needs to be someone like ourselves who can provide resources in the event of a mass casualty.”
This weekend’s shootings in Midland and Odessa prompted UMC into what they refer to as a “mass shooting protocol.”
“We had 10 operating rooms ready to go within about 20 minutes which takes a lot of personnel,” said Dr. Sharmila Dissanaike.
UMC says a benefit of being a level 1 trauma center is the ability to get patients to the operating room quicker than most hospitals.
“Every minute counts,” said Dissanaike. “We created a protocol that takes you directly from the helipad or the ambulance base straight to the operating room.”
UMC received Anderson Davis, the 17-month-old toddler shot in the face on Saturday. She underwent surgery and was released the next day.
“We are very happy that we were able to help the community with that child,” said Dissanaike.
