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Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute
When Seconds Count . . .When a child's life is at stake, there's no second chance. Trauma—accidental injury—kills more children than all other diseases combined. New England statistics are frightening: two children die everyday from accidental injury. Nationally, 15,000 children die from this killer each year, and another 50,000 are permanently disabled. A child is not a little adult. When injured, their reactions to drugs are different, their responses to small amounts of blood loss are different, and the mending of their growing bones is different. For those hospitals called upon to treat only a few severely injured children a year, staffing and equipping a full time emergency pediatric trauma unit can be impractical. At Tufts Medical Center, the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) and MedFlight, the Medical Center's air and ground critical transport service have joined together to provide referring hospitals the opportunity to move their patients safely and quickly to the KPTI regional facility where expert pediatric trauma care is available 24 hours a day. When the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute opened in 1981, it had a natural home in Tufts Medical Center's Floating Hospital for Children. As part of the Tufts Medical Center family, the Trauma Institute has gained worldwide recognition for its sophisticated innovations in caring for seriously injured children. As a result, it now receives patients from hospitals within the six New England states and from other parts of the country and the world. Utilizing a systems approach to trauma care, the Institute addresses each of the problems created by an injury:
From our experience and ongoing research, we know that effective pediatric trauma care begins at the moment of injury before a child reaches the hospital....when seconds count. The Institute has developed a full communications network which includes police departments, ambulances, emergency medical technicians, and area hospitals. Training courses are conducted for emergency medical personnel focusing on the special techniques of treating injured children. In addition, KPTI staff provides community hospitals with consulting services for designing facilities, self-assessment in pediatric trauma, and transfer arrangements. KPTI developed "Kiwanis Family Safety Day: Bicycle Rodeo" program seven years ago. The program is designed to teach children how to ride their bicycles safely and the importance of wearing a helmet. It is sponsored by local Kiwanis clubs, PTA's, police departments, Boy Scout troops, hospitals and other community groups. To-date over 60,000 children have participated and 35,665 bicycle helmets have been distributed in New England. Today, each Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute success story has proven that specialized pediatric trauma care takes sophisticated planning, a superb medical team, and the most advanced medical technology. Tufts Medical Center believes patients and families touched by the services of the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute, are the best reason to continue to care for seriously injured children today, and to be ready for those who may need such dedication tomorrow. KPTI recently celebrated its 20th anniversary at Tufts Medical Center. |
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