Chances are if you have an accident south of Macon, you might not get the care you need. There are only fifteen trauma centers around the state, and if you drive south on I-75 from Macon, you will not find another trauma hospital until you reach the Florida line.
Dr. Dennis Ashley is the Director of Trauma Care at Macon's Medical Center of Central Georgia, and he says that getting patients quickly to a trauma center is key.
"We refer to trauma care as the 'golden hour.' In general that first hour is very critical for us to get to the patient, to start assessing their injuries and then start treatment. And we feel that survival is better if we can get to the patient quicker and start those therapies."
There are only four Level I trauma centers in the state. Those are emergency departments that can provide everything needed after an accident. Last year, the Medical Center considered dropping its Level I designation. That's because Level I centers must have doctors in all surgical specialties on call. Medical Center spokesman Andy Galloway says that's expensive, especially when treating the uninsured.
The crisis has grown to the point where state lawmakers are now looking for money to fund a trauma system. Republican State Senator Cecil Staton is one of them.
"Some of the ideas that have been tossed around would be a fee on motor vehicle registrations, perhaps a modest fee on a monthly basis attached to cell phones, perhaps fines, greater fines for people who fall into the category of what we call super offenders, super speeders, or people who have DUI's. It's going to take a number of sources to come up with the money we need."
Senator Staton knows firsthand why Georgia needs a functioning trauma care system.
"One of the reasons I have a passion for this issue is four years ago, January 9th, I was in a head-on collision, an automobile accident, very serious. I found myself unexpectedly in the need of trauma care. Fortunately that accident occurred very near a Level II trauma center in Rome, Georgia."/
Senator Staton says trauma care in Georgia costs providers 250 million dollars, and the state is looking at contributing around 100 million dollars annually to the system. However, the cost in human lives is even greater according to Dr. Ashley.
"Georgia is 20 percent, about the national average, for death and mortality from traumatic injury. What that translates to in real numbers, if Georgia had an organized trauma system where all Georgians had access to quick trauma care and we, if we reached the national average with our mortality, then we would save 700 lives a year."
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Georgia is one of only seven states that does not have an organized trauma system.
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