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South West Regional Trauma Council |
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Members Letter - April 30, 2003 Dear Member: The South West Regional Trauma Council (SWRTC) has met several times across the past months. As chairperson of the Executive Committee, I would like to provide an update of SWRTC activities and invite your participation in sub-committees. The executive committee meets on a regular basis and the committee meetings are open to the general membership and interested persons. The meetings are held every third Tuesday of the odd numbered months from 11:30 to 1:00 at the Western Plains Medical Complex in Dodge City. The next executive committee meeting is scheduled on Many 20, 2003. A general membership ting was held in Garden City on March 25 wherein bylaws were adopted by the membership. Sherry Davis, Kansas Trauma Registrar, provided a presentation on the Kansas Trauma Registry and the development of aggregate data reports based on trauma registry data. Reports will be provided to the regional trauma councils and to hospitals enrolled in the trauma registry. Currently, 74 hospitals have voluntarily enrolled in the registry and twelve of the hospitals are located in the SW region. The registry will be one tool that the SWRTC will use toward the improvement of trauma care in SW Kansas. Members heard a presentation from Dennis Mauck of Sedgwick County EMS. Among the points Mr. Mauck discussed, the integration and importance of the Glasgow Coma Scale into their services standard run sheet was highlighted. Rosanne Rutkowski, Director of the Kansas Trauma Program, provided updates about the trauma program including the allocation of $2000,000 for trauma education for rural healthcare providers. There are many exciting things happening in our region related to the provision of quality trauma care and I would encourage you or your member organization to become involved in one of the sub-committees the Executive Committee has organized for the region. The three sub-committees and a brief description of their scope of work follow this letter. For the success of the SWRTC, we need your help as a general member to volunteer for one or more of the sub-committees. Please contact the chairperson of the sub-committee of interest to you and let them know how you would like to participate in the sub-committee whether it is assisting with class coordination or disseminating information about the SWRTC. Also, feel free to contact any of the executive committee members for information about the SWRTC. The Kansas Trauma Program is working hard to provide resources and training for health care professionals. For example, the Kansas Trauma Program assists with funding for three courses for the rural healthcare professional. The courses include ATLS, TNCC, and PHTLS. Funding information and an application may be obtained from Kay Swietek at the Kansas Hospital Association. Kay may be reached at 785-233-7436 An important component of service delivery to health care professionals and the people we serve is the input and information provided by member organizations for the South West Trauma Region. To obtain information about SWRTC activities, including meeting minutes, agendas and updates, I encourage you to visit the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Local and Rural Health, web-site at: www.kdhe.state.ks.us/olrh . If you are interested in obtaining email/fax notifications regarding the SW region, please sign up for the Kansas Rural Health Information System (KHRIS) at www.krhis.kdhe.state.ks.us . On behalf of the Executive Committee, we hope that you will join our efforts by participating in a sub-committee, attending available training or following regional activities through the KHRIS or OLRH websites. Sincerely yours, SWRTC Sub-Committees Education -
Brad
Sisk, Chairperson, 620-272-3822, bsisk@pld.com Communication - Jeff
Landgraf, Chairperson, 620-272-3822, jlandgraf@gcnet.com Bylaws - Steven
Daniel, Chairperson, 620-225-8404, steven.daniel@lifepointhospitals.com |