TCD Summit highlighted fast, accurate diagnoses in emergency care

For the fourth year, Bothwell Regional Health Center and Pettis County Ambulance District partnered to hold a Time Critical Diagnosis Summit for area medical professionals. 

The event on June 10 was for emergency medical team members, nurses, physicians and health care providers who are involved in the immediate care of patients experiencing life-threatening conditions such as stroke, STEMI (a severe form of heart attack) or traumatic injuries. 

Bothwell’s Chief Nursing Officer Michele Laas said the annual professional development opportunity equips health care professionals with the knowledge, tools and relationships they need to provide faster, safer and more effective care. 

“Incidents like stroke, trauma and STEMI are highly time-sensitive,” she said. “The faster these conditions are identified and treated, the better the chances of survival and recovery. Ongoing training helps providers recognize subtle symptoms earlier and respond with appropriate interventions more quickly.”

Topics included identifying causes of dizziness, caring for acute coronary syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, the impact of hypertension on the heart, controlling bleeding in pediatric trauma cases, pelvic fractures and chest tube management. 

Presenters were Tom Modin, RN, BSN, St. Luke’s Health System; Steven Mackay, DO, FACC, FSCAI, Missouri Heart Center, Jeffrey Coughenour, MD, MU Health Care; Tim Woods, MD, CoxHealth South; Alisha Lawson, RN, BSN, CEN, MU Air Medical Services; Jennifer Flint, MD, Children’s Mercy Hospital; Evan Stout, MD, Bothwell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; and Trevor Beckham, MD, Surgical Services of Sedalia and Bothwell’s Trauma Medical Director. 

More than 30 participants attended the summit for hands-on training and continuing education credits. 

“The summit is a great opportunity to hear and learn from medical experts from across the state,” Laas said. “It also supports Bothwell’s broader purpose, which is to improve community health and reduce preventable deaths.”

Experienced military trauma surgeon speaks at TCD Summit

Lt. Col. Tim Woods, MD, a general, trauma and bariatric surgeon at CoxHealth Medical Center South in Springfield, Missouri, and a former U.S. Air Force surgeon, recently spoke at a Time Critical Diagnosis Summit hosted June 10 by Bothwell Regional Health Center and Pettis County Ambulance District.

Woods has been a surgeon at CoxHealth since 2006 after serving 13 years in the U.S. Air Force. During his three-year deployment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany, Woods cared for thousands of U.S. service members critically injured during the Iraq War. LRMC is a Level II trauma center and the largest American hospital outside the United States. 

Woods was invited to speak by Bothwell’s Emergency Department Director Mike Shipp.

“Mike and I served in the Air Force together,” Woods said. “I was thrilled to reconnect and accept his invitation to share my knowledge of trauma care with medical colleagues in this area.”

While at Landstuhl, Woods cared for Marcus Luttrell, a Navy SEAL severely injured in Afghanistan in July 2005 after his team was ambushed by Taliban fighters; Luttrell was the only survivor of the attack. After recovering, Luttrell returned to the United States and co-authored the New York Times bestseller Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.

In 2017, Woods re-entered military service in the Missouri Air National Guard and spends time each month as a trauma surgeon at Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS). C-STARS is an Air Force medical training program at the St. Louis University School of Medicine that trains Air Force medical personnel scheduled to deploy to care for seriously injured patients.

“It is a great honor to serve our country and to have cared for Marcus and so many other brave service men and women,” Woods said. “My work at C-STARS is a rewarding opportunity to train the next generation of medical staff who will care for our heroes in their greatest times of need.”