All for One continued
we want them to be safe, but we are there
for them when needed.
“When the patients started arriving,
what was striking to me was that despite
the fact that there were so many people
involved, literally hundreds in close
quarters, there were absolutely no
disagreements, arguments or other conflicts.
Everyone had a job, and everyone did that
job. We saw 10 mortally wounded patients
in about an hour and fifty minutes, one after
another. Several were taken to the operating
room in less than 10 minutes following
arrival. All survived, and some were close to
death at arrival, no question.
“I am not sure that this could have
been handled as efficiently or as smoothly
in a trauma center that is not as ‘integrated’
18
THE CATALYST Winter 10 | sw.org
as we are. Most of those who work here
don’t realize that unlike most of the other
trauma centers in the country, and
certainly in the state, we work together at
Scott & White in a different way. I am not
sure that you could have had anesthesia
and nursing immediately clear and prepare
10 operating rooms during a busy elective
schedule (move patients out of the
operating room, and delay or cancel other
cases immediately), had more than 20
surgeons show up in less than 20 minutes
in the emergency room, and coordinate
things as well as we did in a private practice
environment. In many other places, half of
the surgeons who responded immediately
to the challenge would have been across
town, at a different hospital. One of our
vascular surgery fellows was in New York at
the time of the 9/11 incident, at a Level I
trauma center as a medical student. He was
in the emergency room during our
situation as well. He later told one of our
vascular surgeons that things were much,
much more organized here than he had
seen in New York at that time, and that he
didn’t know that it was possible to do it
this well.
“Within thirty minutes of the last Fort
Hood patient’s arrival, we were accepting
‘routine’ emergency transfers from other
hospitals. I made rounds at 11 p.m. in the
surgical intensive care unit. I asked, ‘Did
you guys call in some extra people to cover
tonight, more residents or staff surgeons?’
Their response was ‘Actually, Dr. Smythe,
we have been back to normal since 9 p.m.
or so; it’s really just business as usual.’
“We honored the leaders of the various
departments and units that were involved
in the Fort Hood incident at the Scott &
White trustees meeting. I was asked to say
a few words on behalf of the group, and
started by saying that I was humbled to do
so—to speak for those who had really
done the work that day. I told the trustees
that the events of that day reminded me a
great deal of how America responds to
challenges, and that we all knew that this
country had faced many, some of them
mortal. I said, ‘In this country, we live in
different states, belong to different
political parties, ethnicities, religions and
stations in life. At Scott & White, we have
a similar situation. We work in different
departments, do different jobs and work at
different levels in the organization. At
times, we have our differences, petty
arguments and disagreements. However,
our response that day reminded me of how
America responds when threatened or
challenged. We forget our differences. We
band together, we fight, we win, we grieve
if necessary, and then we prepare for the
next fight.’
“I was asked several times by the
national media about our connection with
Fort Hood. I told them that a large
number of our staff had spouses and
significant others at Fort Hood, or even
deployed in the Middle East. I said that by
the numbers it was likely 20 or so of the
several hundred in the emergency room
were these people, ones who were
emotionally more involved, and more
challenged. The funny thing was that you
couldn’t pick them out; everyone was a
professional, everyone did his or her job.