Nearly three years ago, Ben Shuman of Morganton was driving his pickup in rural Gwinnett County when another driver ran a stop sign, hitting Shuman’s driver’s-side truck bed at 50 miles per hour, causing the truck to veer off the road and roll twice. Ejected during the accident, the 22-year-old was found 10 feet away from his truck by his brother-in-law, who was following him.

Gwinnett EMS Station 8 responded, and the LifeNet helicopter medical service transported him to Grady Memorial Hospital, a designated Level I trauma center in downtown Atlanta. Shuman arrived at Grady just a few minutes outside of the “golden hour,” and received trauma resuscitation. Medical imaging scans and X-rays indicated serious skull fractures and brain injuries. He was taken into surgery for an immediate craniotomy.

According to the Georgia Statewide Action Team (GSTAT), a coalition of hospitals, emergency providers, physicians, nurses and others interested in creating a statewide trauma system, a trauma patient’s chances of survival increase dramatically if care is received within the “golden hour” immediately following injury.

“Ben’s evaluation at a trauma center gave him the edge for survival,” says his mother, Sherry Shuman, a nurse practitioner.

Shuman and his family strongly support the expansion of the trauma care system in Georgia, says Sherry. “Most people do not realize that there is inadequate trauma coverage, even in some parts of the Atlanta area,” she says. “Had Ben’s accident occurred outside of the Atlanta area, his chances of survival would have been greatly reduced.”

Consider these statistics:

•  Studies report that as many as one-third of trauma deaths occurring in areas without an organized trauma care system are preventable.

•  Georgia’s trauma death rate is significantly higher than the national average: 63 of every 100,000 people compared to the national average of 56. If Georgia’s death rate improved to the national average, it would mean a difference of as many as 700 more lives saved every year.

•  Although some regions of Georgia have excellent trauma care, gaps exist. Millions of Georgians live and work at least two hours away from timely trauma care.

•  Most hospitals with an emergency room are not trauma centers. In Georgia, only 15 of the state’s 152 acute-care hospitals are trauma centers—an alarmingly inadequate number. Georgia should have approximately 25-30 designated trauma centers in strategic locations.

Click here to view this article from the March 2009 GEMC/GEORGIA Magazine.