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] | [b= 0801 vadmatas? vehzonbeW AAT2 YR999 T9049 by Rob Streich Willy MacLeod thought that diving into his friends' pool, like he has 300 times be- ore, wouldn't be a big deal. He didn't know that a sec- ond later he would be floating in the water face down, para- T_T PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, September 6, 1989 Sunnybrook Hospital trauma lyzed; just watching legs and arms go by, unable to cry out or wave and getting closer to drowning. He didn't know that he would end up at the Trauma Ward in Sunnybrook Medical Centre strapped into a wheel- LE. A « The Air Ambulance crew In Bandage One are highly trained professionals who try to bring trauma victims from the scene to a care facllity In as little time and as much com- fort as possible. in this simulation, with the blades still spinning above, the paramedics gently remove the patient and transport him to a waiting ambulance. pr 2 Be soir The ambulance crew walts beside the hell move. The Bandage One paramedic continu delivers the patient across the parking lot to the air and ground ambulance team wheel t ide chair, his back broken, a quad- raplegic, n August 25, a week be- fore one of the most hazardous long weekends of the year, Sun- nybrook Trauma Unit opened its' doors to ten reporters from across the province. A day of grim education, entitled "Condition Critical", took us through the whole trau- ma process from arrival in air ambulance to the Trauma As- sessment Room. From the Crit- ical Care Trauma Ward to the social workers who helped the patients and their families deal with their new reality. The day involved a simula- tion of a patients' arrival and gradual progression on the road to recovery. The staff pa- tiently answered questions and delicately showed and ex- plained the horrifying reality tous. . The staff simulation ended as our 'patient' was examined in the Trauma Room by a team composed of a leader, residents from Anaesthesia, General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Ortho- paedic Surgery , and Radiology, aswell ast Nurses, a Radi- + ology Technician and a Respir- atory Therapist. The next step in a patients stay at Sunnybrook would have been a move to a critical care trauma nursing unit on the sev- enth floor. The nurses paused before the double doors and quickly prepared us for what we would see; 16 beds with severely ill, of- ten unconscious people who are hooked up to a variety of life supporting machines. The reality was frighten- : ing. It was an antiseptic open room, 40 feet wide and 80 feet long with stretchers lined up along the walls. The people in the Critical Care Ward were nearly all on ventilators to assist them in breathing, many had head braces or 'halos' to support copter pad and rushes out to assist with the es to travel into the ambulance, as the crew ' the hospital emergency doors. Immediately, he stretcher to the Trauma Assessment Room, ' where a trauma team will be walting to examine and treat the patient. their damaged necks. All ex- cept one were either uncon- scious or asleep, unmoving and stony silent. Some few family members were sitting by their son or daughter speaking to them softly, trying not to notice the multiple tubes into their nose and throat, the wires and band- ages around their heads. It was natural to think that some of the sleepers might never awak- en again. he nursing staff was quietly efficient, moving about attending to the needs of their assigned patients. In this ward there is one nurse assigned to every patient (As the patients' others to accept thechange that comes to a son or husband who is physically or mentally differ- ent from the person they knew. Itis hard for the staff to witness the suffering of patients and families or that of nurses who become attached to some of their patients. . Sree x 2 [) RL 2 | 5X tabing etal 7 ihe Ga vo 2 5 oo a AR vi 77 : A HADBentaYoIT itmayhappentoyons The emotion was evident in the voices and faces of many of the staff members and pa- tients who spoke to us. Elaine Martin, Social Worker told us how hard it was to help every- Willy MacLeod will be 35 in late September, but this birthday won't be anything like his last. Willy dove into a friends' pool in early August and he has been at Sunny- brook Medical Centre ever since. "It was so simple," ex- plained Willy, but a moment of carelessnesshas resulted in a severed spinal cord and paralysis of his legs and all but three fingers on each hand. His sister and a caring nurse help to pack Ice around his swollen hands to reduce the pain, while his wife runs his automotive shop. condition stabilizes, the ratio reduces to as low as one nurse for four patients). Many of the women in white seemed fresh out of school, and our guide informed us that it was very hard for them to treat the many young atients here. Most only last a ew years before having to transfer to another depart- ment. . As we moved through the rest of the units, the patients we saw were gradually healthi- er, some headed on the road to recovery. Of the patients and staff we met, a message which came through clearly was that itishard. It is hard to deal with the loss of ones mobility limbs, ' brain functions. It is hard for one to keep a positive outlook. Elaine explained that many of the patients and fami- lies delude themselves in a Sleeping Beauty complex where they imagine that one day they will wake up and everything will be back to the way it was before the accident, Elaine said that the staff can't, "take it home with them every day." They rely heavily on each other to counsel and uplift their spirits when a fa- voured patient loses his battle, or when a family breaks up over a trauma case. At Sunnybrook, counsel- ling for families as well as pa- tients is mandatory except where it is specifically rebuffed. (Turn to page 185) a TT -------------- _. en --_-- - .