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MU emergency care symposium to focus on sports-related injuries The symposium is designed for health professionals who provide emergency care to patients, including pre-hospital personnel such as emergency medical technicians and paramedics, as well as registered nurses and physicians. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 10,000 people in the United States receive treatment in emergency departments each day for injuries sustained during sports, recreation or exercise-related activities. Although most sports-related injuries result in fractures, sprains or strains, other forms of trauma can lead to permanent disability or even death. The 60-minute period immediately following a traumatic injury, described as the golden hour by emergency medicine specialists, is the most important timeframe in the transportation and treatment of a patient.
The Sept. 15 symposium will feature three University of Missouri Health Care physicians who will discuss different topics concerning sports-related illnesses or injuries. John Best, M.D., chief of cardiology at Columbia Regional Hospital and director of the Cardiomyopathy Center, will discuss “Sudden Cardiac Death in the Athletic Population” at 8:40 a.m. Gregory Della Rocca, M.D., Ph.D., an orthopaedic surgeon and co-director of University of Missouri Health Care’s Orthopaedic Trauma Service, will discuss “Sports-Related Fractures” at 9:50 a.m. Symposium fees are $20 for an individual or $15 dollars for individuals in groups of three or more. Registration forms are available online at http://www.muhealth.org/calendar/2007/EmergencySymposium.pdf. Please mail registration forms by Wednesday, Sept. 5, to Joan Drake, R.N., marketing manager, The Staff for Life Helicopter Service, 7106 W. River Oaks Road, Columbia, MO 65203. A block of tickets to the MU vs. Western Michigan football game scheduled for the day of the symposium has been reserved for participants at a reduced rate of $15 per ticket. Please indicate on the registration form if you will attend the game and how many tickets you intend to purchase. Founded in 1982, The Staff for Life is a critical care air ambulance service staffed with University of Missouri Health Care medical crews and is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems. The helicopters are owned and operated by Air Methods Corporation. In affiliation with University of Missouri Health Care and Lake Regional Hospital, the service provides air transport to more than 1,000 patients each year. Helicopter bases are located at University Hospital in Columbia, Mo.; Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, Mo.; and LaMonte, Mo., west of Sedalia. |
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University of Missouri Health Care’s Staff for Life Helicopter Service will sponsor a sports-related emergency care symposium from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Sept 15, in room MA217 in Acuff Auditorium at the MU School of Medicine.
“The medical care that a patient with a traumatic injury receives in the first hour is the most crucial in terms of outcome,” said Leeann Johnson, R.N., chief flight nurse for The Staff for Life Helicopter Service. “For those patients with more severe injuries related to the head or the heart, getting them to a trauma center quickly is not only the key to their recovery, but in many cases, to their survival. That is why first-responders, and how they cope with the situation, are so important.”
