CityView Magazine

When LIFE as you know it CHANGES in an instant. emerging Trauma Center J eff Schumacher was loading heavy lumber onto a trailer last February when the rear trailer gate suddenly broke loose. Approximately 2,000 pounds of lumber came crashing back toward him, pummeling his body and pinning him to his driveway. Schumacher was pulled from underneath the gate alive, but with parts of his body crushed. He was rushed to Cape Fear Valley's Emergency Department by EMS where a 10-person trauma team was waiting. They stabilized him before documenting his numerous injuries: a broken arm, two bro- ken bones in his leg, a dislocated shoulder, several broken ribs and a pelvis fractured in two spots. It was the patient's internal bleeding that worried doctors most, however. X-rays and MRIs showed a punctured bladder steadily leaking blood into his abdomen. He was started on blood transfusions with the help of special blood-warming equipment to heat up the blood to body temperature. Schumacher was taken into emergency surgery where doctors tried to stop the bleeding by suturing and cauterizing the area. When that failed to stop all the bleeding, he was taken to an Interventional Radiology suite. Richard Falter, M.D., an interventional radiologist, finally stopped the bleeding by injecting clotting medication through catheters. "By the grace of God, they kept me alive," Schumacher said. "Without the trauma team's knowledge and being available in my situation, I wouldn't be here today." Schumacher was indeed lucky to have ac- cess to such specialized care for his injuries. Cape Fear Valley has been treating local trauma patients for years and applied last year for state designation as an official trauma center. A decision from the state is expected in the coming months. Designations may not mean much to the average patient. But for victims of serious auto accidents, gunshot wounds and other traumatic injuries, the designation really could be the difference between life and death. Trauma injuries are always critical and require advanced medical care as soon as possible, including the need for specialists and surgeons who aren't typically found in emergency rooms. These people often convene from all over the hospital, at a mo- ment's notice, to save a single patient's life – even if it means working simultaneously, for hours at a time. Cape Fear Valley's push to get a state-des- ignated trauma center started with a year- long application process back in early 2011. The state granted initial approval for the program in November, with a final desig- nation expected in the coming months. at cape fear v alley heal th

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