New and Noteworthy Services

Exercises help prepare South Sacramento Medical Center for trauma care

Preparing to open an Adult Level II Trauma Center in the spring of 2009, the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center joined two community drills in the spring of 2008 that gave the physicians and staff additional experience in receiving patients with multiple trauma injuries and responding to community disasters.

“Laguna Rescue” simulated a shooting at Laguna Creek High School with multiple casualties. During the drill, our Emergency Room called a “trauma activation” to practice its response to receiving multiple victims with gunshot wounds at the same time. The exercise also gave our medical center experience in responding to a large-scale disaster in the community, including the potential impact on staffing. Just as important, the drill gave the county experience in the notification process for hospitals and other agencies.

More than 20 agencies from law enforcement and first responders—including the Department of Homeland Security—participated in the exercise. Kaiser Permanente was the only health care organization to have representatives in the command center, where officials decided how to respond to the incident, and in the joint information center, where messages for media were coordinated.

“This drill gave us a unique chance to exercise how we respond to a disaster right in our community,” said Steven Gerigk, Environmental Health and Safety manager. “It was also a great opportunity to show law enforcement and fire agencies that we are ready and prepared to care for our community.”

Our emergency room also received two trauma “patients” as part of the Every 15 Minutes program at Galt High School. Although Kaiser Permanente has sponsored Every 15 Minutes programs at area high schools for years, this was the first time that we received pretend patients from a mock vehicle accident. Students from the high school filmed the patients being treated in the Emergency Department, as well as other activities, and showed it to students at an assembly. The program simulates the effects a serious vehicle accident has on victims and families, and teaches teenagers the dangers of drinking and driving. The named is based upon the fact that somebody dies every 15 minutes from a drunken driver.

David Kissinger, MD, the trauma medical director, and other physicians and staff treated the students with simulated injuries. One student acted as if he did not have any feeling from the waist down. “It was intense, very intense. You have the feeling you don’t know what’s wrong with you,” he said.

Participating in Every 15 Minutes was a great experience for our facility, said Christy Frecceri, RN, our trauma program manager. “It’s a responsibility of a trauma center to address substance abuse. By having these kinds of programs, it encourages our staff to think about directing patients to the proper resources to address substance abuse,” said Frecceri, who also served as the master of ceremonies for the program at the school.