Inspired by events from the book Head Games written by Christopher Nowinski, co-director of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, the film offers revealing insight and cutting-edge science on head trauma from the nation's leading medical experts, including CSTE co-directors Robert A. Stern, PhD, Ann McKee, MD, and Robert C. Cantu, MA, MD, FACS, FACSM, who will be available for questions at the premiere.

A screening will be held on June 6, 2012 at 6 pm. Information on the screening can be found here.

Presented in collaboration with the BU School of Medicine and the Sports Legacy Institute.

Boston Medical Center’s Division of Trauma Surgery hosts a monthly video conference with our colleagues at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, MA and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, MA where we present and discuss trauma-related cases. 

This morning we had a great conference as Michael Murphy, MD, at South Shore Medical Center and Mark Durling, EMT-P, from Hingham Fire joined us to discuss a recent case that presented to BMC. By bringing together all of those who participated in the patients care: from the first responders in the field (Hingham Fire); to the community hospital (South Shore Hospital) where the patient was initially transported; to our trauma center at BMC where the patient was transferred, we were able to not only fully appreciate the complexity in handling major trauma but also the continuum of care necessary to make it successful.  

This educational forum is an ongoing way to share clinical experiences with one another where Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits can be earned and patient care across our region can be improved.

For more information, or if you facility is interested in participating in our Trauma Video Conference, please contact Joe Blansfield, Boston Medical Center Trauma Program Manager at 617.414.4088 or joe.blansfield@bmc.org.

Mark Durling, EMT-P, Hingham Fire, and Peter Burke, MD, Chief, Trauma Services discussing the case.

Boston Trauma Celebrates National Nurses Week 2012

This year's theme: "Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring." 

Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. Nurses work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. Thet have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.

Background
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. 

Courtesy of: American Nurses Association (ANA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Boston Medical Center's Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Critical Care, is pleased to welcome Samir M. Fakhry, MD, FACS, for  the George H. Clowes, Jr., MD, Trauma Lecture Visiting Professor on Monday, April 30, 2012 at Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Fakhry is the Charles F. Crews Professor and Chief of General Surgery at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. 

For more information about the event and for a complete schedule, please click here.
 

Related News: Meet Dr. Fakhry (click here to view video)

Boston Medical Center works in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Play Safe Campaign to provide low cost helmets to the people of Boston.

Helmets can be purchased at the Boston Medical Center Gift Shop in the Menino Lobby for $5.00. The gift shop hours are Monday - Friday 6:30 am - 7 pm and Saturday and Sunday 9 am - 5 pm.

We encourage everyone to measure head circumference prior to purchasing their helmets to ensure the proper fit.  For information on how to measure, click here.

Did you know?

• The most effective way to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes is to provide helmets and insist that children wear them every time they ride a bike, in-line skate, skateboard, or scooter.
• Wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent.
• Massachusetts law requires any person under 17 years old to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, a skateboard, a scooter, or in-line skating.

Click here to download:

Helmet_Poster.pdf (3.55 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Helmet_Poster.pdf (3.55 MB)

Boston Medical Center patient Ken Cooper was riding his bicycle in a Boston bike lane when he was struck by an automobile traveling 20 miles per hour. Fortunately Ken was wearing a helmet, which likely saved his life.

Ken's shattered helmet

Learn more about Boston Medical Center's Trauma and Emergency services. 

For more patient stories, click here.

Boston Medical Center trauma surgeon and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine, Tracey Dechert, MD, recently published, “Lactate in trauma: a poor predictor of mortality in the setting of alcohol ingestion”, in The American Surgeon. 

Abstract

Resuscitation end point markers such as lactate and base deficit (BD) are used in trauma to identify and treat a state of compensated shock. Lactate and BD levels are also elevated by alcohol. In blunt trauma patients with positive blood alcohol levels, lactate may be a poor indicator of injury. Retrospective data were collected on 1083 blunt trauma patients with positive blood alcohol levels admitted a Level I trauma center between 2003 and 2006. Patients were stratified by Injury Severity Score, age, gender, and Glasgow Coma Score. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess lactate and BD as independent risk factors for mortality. Seventy-four per cent of patients had an abnormal lactate level compared with 28 per cent with abnormal BD levels. In patients with mild injury, lactate levels were abnormal in more than 70 per cent of patients compared with less than 20 per cent of patients with abnormal BD levels. Linear regression showed lactate is not a significant predictor of mortality. Regardless of Injury Severity Score, lactate appeared to be more often abnormal than BD in the setting of alcohol ingestion. Additionally, because BD, and not lactate, was shown to be an independent predictor of mortality, lactate may not be a reliable marker of end point resuscitation in this patient population.

Am Surg. 2011 Dec;77(12):1576-9.Lactate in trauma: a poor predictor of mortality in the setting of alcohol ingestion. Herbert HK, Dechert TA, Wolfe L, Aboutanos MB, Malhotra AK, Ivatury RR, Duane TM. Source Department of General Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA, USA.

Related News:

Tracey Dechert - Trauma Surgeon: Video for Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST)

Tracey Dechert published chapter on managing pelvic fractures

Tracey Dechert, MD, recognized as future leader in Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) 

(download)

Click here to download:

Dechert_Video_-_for_web.m4v (25.03 MB)

Tracey Dechert, MD
Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon, Boston Medical Center 
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine

Tracey Dechert, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine, is a graduate of Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA and Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Dechert completed her residency in General Surgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA and her fellowship in the Department of Traumatology and Surgical Critical Care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Her clinical interests include pelvic fractures and trauma in women. 

Why did you go into trauma/acute care surgery?
I find caring for the severely injured to be very rewarding.

What makes Boston Medical Center special?
We are dedicated to caring for everyone in their time of need.

Research/Clinical Interests

• Pelvic fractures
• Trauma in women

Board Certifications

• General surgery
• Surgical critical care

Contact Information
Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Ambulatory Care Center
725 Albany Street
Floor 3
Boston, MA 02118
617.414.4861

For more information about Boston Medical Center's Division of Trauma Surgery and Critical Care, please click here.

Check out the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) YouTube page by clicking here.

http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/teaching-doctors-how-to-close-lifes-last-door/