RTAC (Council) IX | Regional Trauma Advisory Committees (RTAC)
Overview
A Regional Trauma Advisory Council (RTAC) is an organized group of citizens who represent all healthcare entities within a specified and clearly defined trauma Service area. These healthcare entities include all trauma facilities, physicians, nurses and EMS Providers. An RTAC is a formal organization defined by the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission. It establishes a Trauma System Regionalization of identified EMS Regions, the primary purpose of which is to develop and implement a regional emergency medical service/trauma system plan, thereby enhancing trauma care and all relevant components thereof in addition to oversight of trauma system networking with others in Region IX.
All counties in EMS Region IX, i.e., 24 and 3 in South Carolina are included in the Region IX RTAC. The geographic area includes all counties in Georgia lying at the southern tip of eastern Georgia, those bordering the Atlantic Ocean up to and including Chatham County, westward as far as Coffee County; and including Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties in South Carolina.
There are 20 hospitals within Region IX and three referring centers in Southeast South Carolina. One of the hospitals, Memorial University Medical Center, is state designated as meeting Level I criteria (Appendix A).
Region IX presents distinct challenges insofar as the geography size and resources appropriated to a rural setting. Concurrently, there are no Level II, III, or IV centers in the service area. Seventy-five percent (75%) of Region IX counties are located at least 50 miles beyond a Georgia trauma center, thus increasing exponentially the potential for mortality from a serious injury.
With the advent and development of a Regional Trauma Advisory Council for Region IX and adjacent South Carolina counties, communications between the provider(s) and hospital(s) are ultimate goals and thus, improvement in the quality of care.
MISSION STATEMENT
The primary mission of the Regional Trauma Advisory Council for Region IX is to address trauma system development, assist member organizations in attaining trauma designation or re-designation and provide oversight to ensure the quality of care and patient safety.
In doing so the Regional Trauma Advisory Council will:
1. Encourage multi-community participation in providing trauma care. Ensuring the most efficient, consistent, and expeditious care or each individual who experiences an acute injury.
2. Enhance assessment, triage, and communication between pre-hospital providers and hospitals to facilitate treatment and transportation of patients to the most appropriate trauma facility.
3. Attain funding resources for medical and public trauma education and awareness
4. Develop and maintain integrated quality processes in patient care, research, education and prevention
VISION:
We will be the model regional trauma, disaster, and emergency healthcare system in the United States, which will result in the lowest risk-adjusted mortality for emergency healthcare.
Contact Information:
Stephanie Gendron, MPA
4700 Waters Ave, Savannah, GA 31403
Office: 912.350.8055
Cell: 912.704.9188
Fax: 912.350.3122
Committees:
Education:
Chair: Anna Maria Anderson- Liberty Regional EMS; annamaria_anderson@yahoo.com
Co-Chair: Laura Hunnewell- Effingham Hospital; hunnela@effinghamhospital.org
Co-Chair: Logan Warren- United EMS; logan.e.warren@gmail.com
Injury Prevention:
Chair: Keliesha Jones- Safe Kids Savannah; JonesKe4@memorialhealth.com
Co-Chair: Connie Bowers- Coffee Regional Medical Center; Connie.Bowers@coffeeregional.org
Co-Chair: Jenny Thompson- Coffee Regional Medical Center; jenny.thompson@coffeeregional.org
Medical Oversight:
Chair: Dr. James Dunne- Memorial University Medical Center
Pre-Hospital:
Chair: Donald Mixon- Air-Evac; Donald.Mixon@air-evac.com
Co-Chair: Susan Malone- Coastal Health District; Susan.Malone@dph.ga.gov
Quality Assurance and Process Improvement:
Chair: Lisa Bowers- Memorial University Medical Center; BowerLi1@memorialhealth.com
RTAC IX Members Include:
Air Evac Lifeteam
Appling Hospital
Bryan County Emergency Services
Coastal Health District
Coffee Regional Medical Center
Effingham Hospital
Evans Memorial Hospital
Glynn County Fire Dept.
Liberty Regional EMS
Liberty Regional Medical Center
Memorial University Medical Center
Okefenokee EMS
Safe Kids Savannah
Savannah Technical College
Southside Fire/EMS
United EMS
Winn Army Community Hospital