As a leading provider of quality healthcare, Blake Medical Center’s new $2.5 million Provisional Level II Trauma Center is equipped to provide comprehensive emergency medical services to patients suffering with traumatic injuries, a leading cause of death for both children and adults.
Studies show that the sooner patients get to a designated trauma center, the better their chance for survival. Severely injured patients have the best chance of survival if they receive trauma care within the “golden hour” or the first 60 minutes after a life-threatening injury. Blake Medical Center offers that kind of critical trauma care close to home. “The name of the game is TIME and every minute is critical,” said Dr. Brian Kimbrell. In the past, patients from Manatee, Sarasota, and Desoto counties were airlifted to trauma centers in Tampa, St. Petersburg, or Fort Myers to receive trauma care.
Now, with exceptional trauma-trained and experienced staff, the emergency response power of EMS and the academic partnership with USF College of Medicine, Blake offers faster access to quality care for critically injured patients from Manatee, Sarasota and Desoto counties.
Blake Medical Center Awaits Level II Designation
Dr. Kimbrell, a trauma surgeon and Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Medical Director, came to Blake Medical Center to develop the trauma program along with other members of the team. With an application that was more than 8,000 pages, state regulators approved the application last year, designating Blake a Provisional Level II Trauma Center. The final step of the application process is an out-of-state team of trauma care experts conducting an in-depth evaluation of the provisional trauma center by the end of this year. A positive evaluation will allow Blake Medical Center to go from its current “provisional” trauma status to being granted full designation.
Educational Outreach to Community
Blake Medical Center has developed an educational program based on trends of the injuries seen so far. These consist of falls, automobile injuries and motorcycle injuries to name a few. They are using this information to educate the community about the risks of trauma. “We see many trauma cases based on ground level falls in our older population,” said Kimbrell. “Most people do not understand the dangers a fall can have, even one at ground level, particularly if the patient is on blood thinners.” Blake Medical Center is educating the older community through their H2U program on home safety and fall prevention, the dangers of throw rugs, the benefits of handrails in bathrooms and much more. In addition, automobile and motorcycle accidents are ranked as two of the top three mechanisms of injury at Blake Medical Center. Blake is also using this data to reinforce the negative impacts of distracted driving and the benefits of seatbelts and helmets by speaking at local schools and community events in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties.
Trauma Care Requirements
Trauma Center standards require that a board-certified trauma surgeon is on duty at all times. Blake currently has seven trauma surgeons on staff. As expected, neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons are key specialists involved in the trauma program. However, a complete team of board-certified surgical and non-surgical specialists must be on call around the clock (e.g., physicians who specialize in obstetric/gynecologic surgery, eye surgery, orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery). Non-surgical specialties include cardiology, infectious disease, hematology and pulmonary medicine, to name a few.
About Brian Kimbrell, MD
Brian Kimbrell, MD joined Blake Medical Center in August of 2010 as the Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Medical Director. Dr. Kimbrell came from St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California where he served as the Trauma
Medical Director and Surgical Critical Care Director. Since joining the team, he has been spearheading a wide range of efforts including recruiting, developing trauma protocols, construction planning and training staff.
To learn more about the high level of care provided at Blake’s Provisional Level II Trauma Center, please call 1-888-359-3552 or visit www.BlakeMedicalCenter.com/Trauma.