When Every Second Counts

For 17-year-old Jennifer Mitchell, June 13, 2009 is a date she will never forget. That morning, while on the way to a go-karting track with four of her friends, Jennifer’s car was struck by a van going more than 95 kilometers per hour. “We were stopped at an intersection when out of nowhere we were hit,” she says. “The next thing I knew it was days later and I was lying in the hospital with no idea what had happened to me.” Fortunately for Jennifer, that hospital was the Montreal General Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre: one of only four tertiary trauma centres in Quebec*. There, the trauma team under the leadership of Dr. Tarek Razek, the MUHC’s Chief of Trauma, quickly assessed and began treating Jennifer’s extensive injuries, which included head trauma, a torn aorta, a fractured pelvis, broken ribs and injuries to her spleen, her intestines and her neck. Teamwork: the key to trauma care More than 9,000 cases like Jennifer’s pass through the doors of the Montreal General every year, making it one of the busiest urban trauma centres in the country. It’s also one of the best: the MUHC’s trauma team is so respected that they are currently partnering with non-government organizations (NGOs) to train doctors and nurses in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. According to Razek, the key to the MUHC’s success in trauma care is its well-orchestrated multidisciplinary team. “At the MUHC, we have an excellent group of specialists who are used to working in a collaborative and cross-disciplinary environment. Trauma care uses a lot of resources at every level, from the specialized neurosurgeon on call nights and weekends to the housekeeping staff that makes sure we have sterile places to work. We’re very lucky to have all of the pieces in this complicated puzzle in place.” A world-class team needs world-class facilities In a discipline where the difference between life and death can be a matter of seconds, having efficient, well-designed facilities with the latest equipment within easy reach is a necessity. That’s why building a brand new, state-of-the-art emergency room and trauma centre is a key element of the MUHC’s redevelopment project on the Mountain Campus. At the new MUHC, trauma patients will arrive in a fully refurbished emergency department, including an all-new resuscitation suite and a dedicated oversized elevator to quickly transfer patients to imaging, intensive care and other related services. Patients who require surgery will have access to 11 of the most advanced operating rooms in the country, including Minimally Invasive Surgery suites designed to accommodate surgical robotics and other sophisticated technologies. Advanced medical informatics will give the trauma team instant access to a patient’s medical history, diagnostics, and external databases like the trauma registry. Finally, since the key to trauma care is teamwork, all of the trauma team’s offices will be consolidated in one area, giving the MUHC’s top-notch caregivers better access to their most valuable resource: each other. Multiple surgeries and five painful months later, Jennifer is back home and well on the way to resuming her normal life. Although she may not remember the day of the accident, she will never forget the care she got at the MUHC. “I am just so grateful to all of my doctors for everything they did for me,” she says with emotion in her voice. “I know I wouldn’t be alive today without them.”