Current Trauma Status Report - Southern Nevada Health District

Las Vegas Town Hall Meeting
The following comments, input, questions and answers were provided during the City of Las Vegas
Town Hall meeting on trauma in Southern Nevada held on March 8, 2004. People attending the Town
Hall meeting included stakeholders from the Las Vegas Fire Department, Clark County Health District,
University Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, St. Rose-Dominican Hospitals and a
neurosurgeon. The Abaris Group categorized the comments for easier reviewing purposes.
Trauma Resources/Policy/Configuration:
• An informal poll of Las Vegas Fire Department staff on where they would like another trauma
center indicated a preference for the northwest
• More trauma centers for the system would be good if appropriate based on volume
• I am not opposed to more than one, but they have seen systems with multiple centers in which
some had to close.
• We need more, but now we are paying for duplication in some places We have hospitals with
resources. Maybe we should share rather than stretch.
• Medic courses should be less expensive. I left medic training because it was too expensive.
• Some hospitals are short on beds, others are short on staff, but there is no sharing of resources.
Funding:
• A trauma tax would be unrealistic. License fees, fees at the airport or a room tax would be more
feasible.
• The system should pursue homeland security funding.
• The idea of funding a for-profit hospital’s trauma center, or any hospital choosing to have a
trauma center, with tax revenue is a concern.
Clinical Staffing:
• I am concerned about staffing for additional trauma centers.
• Are physicians available for additional trauma centers
• A medic shortage is expected based on experience at recent conferences.
Patient Care/Access:
• The Las Vegas Fire Department has experienced rapid patient care and faster turnaround for EMS
at the UMC trauma center.
• ED wait times creates a nightmare in coordinating care, which goes back to the question of
appropriate care and moving patients to the appropriate hospital. 5-6 people have probably died in
the last year as a result of waiting. However, the trauma center at UMC works very well. Trauma is
just one component of a bigger issue. Location is not the issue – it’s knowing where you can take a
patient.
• The community will be trying no diversion. The role of EMS is getting the patient to care as quickly
as possible. It doesn’t make sense to bypass one hospital to wait at another.
• Work is being done on redirecting patients who don’t need ED care, approximately 10,000-20,000
per year, who are impacting the system. There is a question of whether some EMS patients could
be redirected to urgent care, but then that may result in not getting reimbursed.
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