EMERGENCY CARE
Critical to the success of the trauma center are the helicopter crews who can fly injured
people quickly to Lawnwood. People usually live if they can make it to surgery within that
first golden hour. >>
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Fire Rescue. “Our goal is to get the patient to
surgical care,” Amato says. “Now we don’t have
to wait for a helicopter. We have less scene time
and transport time is less. People are getting here
quicker. Surgery done in the first golden hour is
even bigger for the positive outcome.”
The boundary for the trauma center, is from
Bridge Road in Hobe Sound north to County
Road 510 north of Vero Beach and west to eastern
Okeechobee County. Martin County has sent
49 patients to the trauma center with 45 of them
arriving by helicopter.
“It (the trauma center) improves the level of
service we provide,” says John Belding, chief of
special operations for Martin County Rescue.
“It improves survivability and it is a great asset
for us.”
THE NEED
St. Lucie County voters didn’t see it that way
two years ago when they voted down a referendum
for a tax to build the trauma center, but
Lawnwood’s parent company, Hospital Corporation
of America, decided to build it anyway. So
far it is operating at a loss of $18 million a year,
including $2 million for training, says Lawnwood
spokesman Eschbach.
“People were dying in transport. We knew
the need was here. You have a 50 percent better
chance of surviving a traumatic injury if you
JANA ESCHBACH/LAWNWOOD
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