ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Trauma, strokes and bike safety are just three of the designations for the month of May, and Southwest Medical Center Trauma Coordinator Katie Coleman said efforts are made year-round to educate the public about these issues.

One of the focuses for April was National Childhood Trauma Month, and Coleman said though adults and children go through the same types of trauma such as motor vehicle accidents, falls and cuts, the difference comes with anatomy.

Likewise, Coleman said emergency room nurses and providers treat trauma differently with children and adults.

“If a child comes in after a motor vehicle accident, as a mother, you have to put yourself in that because you’re dealing not only with the child, but you’re dealing with the family, the parents,” she said. “As a provider, especially in the ER, we deal with children trauma a little differently than we do adult trauma, but they have the same accidents. We just handle them a little differently as far as care, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.”

The theme for this year’s National Trauma Awareness Month is “Stay Focused, Stay Safe,” and as part of this, Coleman said SWMC is working to become a Trauma Four level designated hospital.

Coleman said this provides a  standard of care to make sure patients are provided with the best care they can and the same care they can get in bigger communities such as Wichita.

“Do we have the same providers as they do, like neurosurgeons?” she said. “No, but we want to make sure our standards of care matches what those providers in Wichita or Denver are doing to give our community the best possible outcome.”

Coleman said trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under 45. Trauma Month was designated by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Coleman said the highest rate for traumas in Southwest Kansas is falls, particularly falls involving elderly people.

“That’s across a lot of the state, but we jump to ATV accidents, cutting, piercing,” she said. “Each region has their own areas in that trauma section they’re focusing on.”

Coleman said much of the focus of Trauma Awareness Month is on donating blood.

“Every two seconds, an American needs blood, whether that’s through trauma, surgery,” she said.

Coleman said since the COVID-19 pandemic, blood donations have decreased by about 40 percent, and this increases the need to focus on donating.

“It could be life saving,” she said. “If we don’t give you blood by the time you get to Wichita, are you still going to be alive to save that life? Donation of blood is really important.”

Coleman said there are different levels of trauma, and adults and children handle trauma different. SWMC, though, does have protocols and policies in place as guidelines to handle cases.

“We do a trauma nursing core course. It takes us through how to systematically go through a trauma so we don’t miss things, and we can provide the best possible standard of care for those trauma patients,” she said. “We have a lot of courses and education for the nurses. All the ER providers are board certified in emergency trauma. That elevates our hospital as well.”

Coleman said SWMC is constantly improving what it does to help with trauma, but now, a name is being put to what is done.

“We are making sure they align with what our state is requiring us to do,” she said. “It’s things we’ve always done. I’ve always done these things I’m educating them more and more about.”

May is also National Stroke Awareness Month, and Coleman said there are two different types of strokes people can experience.

“You have an ischemic stroke, which is a blood clot,” she said. “It gets caught in one of the vessels or arteries and prevents that blood flow.”

Coleman estimated this is the type of stroke experienced among 87 percent of cases, with the remaining experiencing a hemorrhagic stroke, which involves bleeding in the brain.

“If an elderly person falls and they hit their head and they’re on Plavix, Eliquis or Coumadin, they have an increased risk for bleeding in the brain,” she said. “Your blood’s really thin when you take that, and when you hit that, it could cause sheering or tearing of those arteries or vessels of the brain.”

Coleman said conditions such as atrial fibrillation increase the risk for strokes, especially for ischemic strokes.

“Your heart doesn’t beat correctly, and you develop those clots,” she said. “Those clots can go anywhere – to the brain, to the heart, to the lungs. Controlling a lot of those preventative diseases could benefit decreasing those risks of stroke.”

In addition to atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol make for an increased risk of having a stroke. Coleman said diet, exercise and eating healthy are key to preventing strokes.

As for what can be done after a stroke occurs, Coleman said more of the focus needs to be turned to preventing one, and this includes not only controlling medical issues, but also recognizing if a loved one or that friend is having a stroke.

“The American Heart Association recommends what they call BE FAST,” she said. “B is for Balance. E is for Eye. If you have vision changes, blurry vision. F is for Face drooping. A is Arm weakness. S is for speech difficulty, and T is for Time.”

With time, Coleman said there is a limited window of opportunity from the start of symptoms of about four and a half hours when provider can do something about a stroke.

“If we can get people into the hospital sooner rather than later, it increases their chance their quality of life after that stroke is going to be improved,” she said. “If we can get you in, if you have an ischemic stroke and there’s no bleeding, we can give you a medication to thin out that clot, which has proven to increase the quality of life after that stroke so they’re not as disabled both physically or cognitively.”

Coleman said quality of life could lower as well for a stroke survivor.

“It depends on where it happens in the brain, how it’s going to affect,” she said. “If it happens in the back of the brain, it could affect cognitive or walking.”

Coleman said nationwide statistics show every 40 seconds someone has a stroke, and there are more than 6.5 million Americans who are stroke survivors.

With the closest metro areas to Liberal being as far as Wichita and Denver, Coleman said it is important to get stroke patients the care they need as soon as possible at home before being transported.

“By the time we ship you somewhere, it could mean your life or a disability that could be detrimental to your quality,” she said.

May is also National Bicycle Safety Month, and Coleman said a major focus is helmets.

“We have a lot of pediatrics who have had accidents on bicycles who aren’t wearing a helmet,” she said. “Some of them suffer brain injuries, skull fractures, concussions. Helmet usage is really important. I know it’s not cool. I know we don’t look cool, but it is important. The children go off what the parents do, so if we can get parents to start wearing helmets and being safe, hopefully, that will trickle down to the kids.”

In the ER, Coleman said the highest rates for bicycle-related injuries are adolescents age 10 to 14. She estimated 59 percent of bicyclists death occur at sections of road away from intersections, with 29 percent happening at intersections themselves.

“Each year, 1,000 bicyclists die on the nation’s roads in crashes involving a motor vehicle,” she said. “Those of us who are riding a bicycle have, especially if there’s a bicycle lane, the right of way. Making sure we’re driving, we’re watching out for bicyclists whether it be adults or pediatrics.”

Coleman said recently, SWMC has seen as many as 10 bike injuries in a month, and those injuries come from falling off a bike and falling off the handlebars. She said other similar injuries have been seen in the ER as well.

“I know we’ve had an increase in scooter-related accidents,” she said. “It doesn’t even have to be a bicycle. It could be an ATV, scooter, electric scooter, moped. It needs a helmet.”

Coleman said the increase in such accidents is seasonal.

“In summer, we see an increase in bicycle accidents, ATV accidents, four-wheeler accidents,” she said. “We do see an increase in those incidents over May, June, July, August.”

Overall, Coleman said people educating themselves about trauma, strokes and bike safety is even more important for people living in Southwest Kansas.

“If you have an accident or trauma, there’s a likelihood of you getting flown to Wichita or Denver or Amarillo depending on where the storms are,” she said. “We’ve had all those fires around Meade and Ashland and in the Oklahoma Panhandle. All of those affect our ability to transport people. It’s really important to know everything you can about not just these, but fire safety, disaster preparedness because of where we live.”