ISSUE IN-DEPTH: STATEWIDE TRAUMA CARE: Full range of treatments required

The Medical Association of Georgia supports the full range of legislation that has been introduced in Georgia in 2009 to fund the state’s trauma care network for one simple reason: These measures will save lives.

According to a 2006 report by the Georgia Senate Research Office, some 700 Georgians lose their life each year because of the state’s inadequate trauma care system.

As a state, we face a multiple-level crisis unless fundamental change takes place. This is especially true in rural Georgia, where minutes carry a higher-than-usual premium in the trauma care world. The area south of Macon on I-75 is referred to as the “Corridor of Death” in trauma care circles. That’s repugnant and unacceptable.

An adequate statewide trauma care system is clearly within our reach. In those areas where a trauma infrastructure is in place, Georgia’s capabilities are on par with the rest of the country. The challenge is to extend that level of care to the entire state.

We’ll need an estimated $100 million or more per year to create and sustain the kind of trauma system that’s required to save those 700 lives. That means it’s going to take an integrated compliment of legislative remedies to fully fund the trauma care system, including a “super speeder” fine, a $10 fee on car tags, a fee on phone service and wireless device sales, and proceeds from the state tax on real estate.

Gov. Sonny Perdue —- a longtime advocate for health care in Georgia —- and the bill sponsors should be commended for their vision and their leadership.

At least 16 states have established dedicated funding resources for their trauma care systems. Without that kind of adequate and sustainable funding mechanism in place, any trauma system —- no matter how effective or well administered —- is destined to fail.

The trauma system consists of a number of elements, including EMS services (technicians, transport), communications (the 911 system), rehabilitation, hospitals, administration, nurses and physicians. Each is essential, and each has to be addressed in a unique way if we want to build an exemplary, truly integrated trauma network. Without adequate transport services and EMS personnel, for example, trauma victims would never get to the hospitals.

We also can’t ignore a shortage of physicians in Georgia —- which the Georgia Board of Physician Workforce has estimated will be 2,500 by 2020, including 1,500 doctors in underserved areas. Trauma surgeons provide a skill we can’t afford to lose. These surgeons are expected to operate in a fast-paced, high-stress environment. They often provide care for the uninsured, which means they often go uncompensated. No other profession would require its members to function with that as a backdrop.

All health care providers must be compensated in a fair and equitable way to ensure that they will participate in the state’s trauma system. The trauma bills that are under consideration can provide those resources.

Our state leaders need to employ a long-term, strategic lens when it comes to our trauma care system. That means upgrading the trauma infrastructure, enhancing the state’s readiness capabilities, and accounting for the full spectrum of stakeholders along the trauma network chain. That means funding that is sustainable, secure and renewable on an annual basis. That means passing the full compliment of trauma care funding bills into law.

Ultimately, we need to give the group of health care providers that are the backbone of the trauma system in Georgia the peace of mind that there’s a permanent and adequate funding stream in place. That, then, becomes peace of mind for the people who live here and might someday need the trauma care system.

Based on the research I’ve seen, it’s clear that there’s widespread public support for a statewide trauma system in Georgia. The state’s residents understand that this affects their quality of life at the most basic level —- and they say they’re prepared to pay for it.

It’s time we convert that public will into public policy.

> Dr. John Harvey, a general surgeon working in north Atlanta, is chairman of the Medical Association of Georgia’s Trauma Task Force.