By tradition and design, Madigan Army Medical Center patients' military ties are the key to getting their care here. But when it comes to trauma, Madigan opens its doors to civilians to receive the high level of care this Level II Trauma Center can provide.
While Madigan naturally takes care of any trauma incidents that occur on base, Madigan's ambulance service also covers the stretch of I-5 just outside of base. Madigan can at times take care of patients from other ambulance services as well.
"If they need life-saving interventions and we are the closest facility, by all means they can bring them here," said Tara Spears, the Trauma Program Manager for Madigan. She said that Madigan also collaborates with the Tacoma Trauma Trust, which shares trauma duties between Multicare Tacoma General Hospital and St. Joseph Medical Center; Madigan is on standby to help care for additional civilian trauma patients from the local region if needed.
Most trauma patients in Washington State are injured by vehicle crashes and falls, although other types of trauma such as gunshot wounds and stabbings are also seen, said Spears. Although trauma patients generally enter Madigan through its emergency room, most require quite a bit of additional care.
"Trauma patients touch just about every place in the hospital at some point," said Spears. Her office helps to coordinate the complexity of trauma patients' care; after the ER, they can be seen by a variety of hospital services such as general surgery, intensive care units or inpatient units, radiology, lab, and other specialty services. As a Level 2 Trauma Center, Madigan is designated as one of the highest levels of trauma care available.
After civilian trauma patients are stabilized, Madigan's Trauma Program works with the Transitional Care Management Services to ensure follow-on care is arranged in the community, either in a rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility. Spears also helps to arrange outpatient follow-ups as needed with the Tacoma Trauma Clinic.
Through Madigan's Trauma Registrar, the trauma service also captures some of the patients' statistical data for Washington State's Trauma Registry, a database that captures trends of trauma patients including demographics, types of injuries, care received and outcomes.
"The information that all of the hospitals contribute to that registry leads to furthering and bettering trauma care around the state of Washington. We use statistics such as how many falls we see in elderly people, for instance, and use that information to guide injury prevention activities," Spears said.
"It's a very good tool for us to monitor how things are going and to research how to make it better," she said.
Madigan also focuses on trauma education by teaching in-house trauma education courses, and inviting some medical professionals from the local area to attend to keep up with inter-hospital communication and collaboration, said Spears. Likewise, Madigan joins in the Tacoma Trauma Conference every year, sending speakers and participants as well as a team to provide simulated trauma training.
This emphasis on collaborative training with downtown hospitals enhances the care that civilian trauma patients get at Madigan; in fact, the patients Spears talks to say they are impressed with the care they receive here.
"That tells me that we're doing something right, that our doctors, our nurses, our radiology and respiratory techs, everyone that interacts with these patients are doing what they need to be doing and doing it well," she said.
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