Tri-City Defended

I am writing this letter in response to the extensive controversy regarding the San Diego Trauma Management System.

I have been in nursing for 11 years and a Tri-City Hospital Emergency Department nurse for seven. I think that, for several reasons, an unfair, incomplete portrait of Tri-City Hospital and its motivations is being presented to and portrayed by the media. The very unfortunate byproduct of such erroneously exclusive information is that the public, including the north coastal community we serve, is not given an accurate or complete picture upon which to base its conclusions.

Tri-City Hospital has been accused of conspiring with the public service agencies of Carlsbad, Vista and Oceanside against the trauma system, i.e.; transporting patients to Tri-City instead of the designated trauma center. The truth is, we truly are, to the best of our ability, attempting to comply with the extensive policies and protocols set forth by the Trauma Management Program. There are, in fact, very few reasons to divert a patient out of the trauma system and keep him or her at Tri-City Hospital. They are:

- The patient has an airway management problem.

- The patient is suffering traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest.

- The trauma base hospital “triages” the call away because it is already handling too many calls.

- The helicopter is not available for transport.

I personally am not aware of any doctor, nurse or paramedic in our North County system who would deliberately attempt to “keep” a patient within our system inappropriately. The fact is, we continue to receive trauma patients only for the above-stated reasons, because, according to the county, that is in the best interest of the patient.

The media have also stated that Tri-City Hospital has deficiencies that can have a life-or-death impact on the outcome of the patient. If this is so, why did the national experts hired by the county pass Tri-City by a wide margin, in two out of three very thorough surveys?

I think that any reasonable and prudent citizen provided with all the facts would realize that the majority of the allegations and investigations being directed at Tri-City are unfounded.

The medical, legal and financial implications are clear to all involved. We can only hope that, in this process, due respect to fairness and objectivity don’t get caught up and lost in the political arena.

KATHI HUBER

Oceanside