The golden hour. It’s either the longest or shortest 60 minutes in determining whether a person lives or dies following a traumatic injury. These precious minutes are even more so for health-care providers and their patients in communities more than an hour away from specialized trauma services available in larger urban centres.
Fortunately, the daunting task of assessing, resuscitating and stabilizing rural and remote trauma patients prior to transferring them to Royal University Hospital (RUH) is going to be less formidable thanks to a generous $250,000 donation from RBC to Royal University Hospital Foundation.
RBC’s gift will help grow and train trauma care teams in rural and remote health-care facilities in central and northern Saskatchewan during the next two years. RBC’s support will assist RUH trauma specialists in delivering trauma team development training to health-care professionals in their local facilities.
“RBC recognizes the important impact health-care providers have on the lives of so many in the province,” says RBC’s Aaron Martyniw, Regional Vice-President Central Saskatchewan. “Through our donation to RUH Foundation, we are pleased to assist RUH trauma specialists in supporting rural and remote health-care professionals in enhancing trauma care for their patients.”
There are unique aspects to providing rural trauma care due to location, number of health-care providers in the community and circumstances by which many people sustain their injuries in rural settings. Participants will be introduced to various trauma-related procedures, take part in trauma simulation scenarios tailored to the needs of the facility and discuss communication processes when transferring a patient to RUH.
“RUH’s trauma team is very appreciative of RBC’s gift,” says trauma surgeon Dr. Niroshan Sothilingam, Medical Director of the province’s largest Level 1 Trauma Centre that is located at RUH. “RBC’s gift enables us to partner with our rural and remote health-care colleagues, provide training in their local facilities and enhance the confidence they have when responding to the high-stress situations associated with providing trauma care.”
RBC’s donation is an excellent example of the power of partnerships.
“Thank you to RBC for your leadership, innovative thinking and forward-looking support for trauma care in Saskatchewan,” says RUH Foundation CEO Jennifer Molloy. “Your support of our dedicated health-care professionals at RUH and those in rural and remote communities is helping create a healthier tomorrow for residents from across the province requiring care during their greatest time of need.”
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For more information, contact:
Daryl Oshanek, Senior Communications Officer
RUH Foundation
PH: 306.655.0628
daryl.oshanek@ruhf.org